*#i 


Brigham  Young 


The  MORMON 
MONSTER 

OR,  THE   STORY    OF    MORMONISM 

EMB  RACING 

THE  HISTORY  OF  MORMONISM 
MORMONISM  AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM 
MORMONISM  AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM 
MORMONISM      AS      A     POLITICAL     SYSTEM 

WITH    A 

Full  Discussion  of  the  Subject  of  Polygamy 

Ay 

EDGAR    E.    FOLK,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Editor  of  the  "Baptist  and  Reflector,"  Nashville,  Tenn. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

GEORGE    A.    LOFTON,  D.D. 


Fleming  H.    Revell  Company 

Chicago,    New  York    &    Toronto 

MDCCCC 


Copyright,  1901,  by  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company. 


DEDICATION. 

To  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity,  and  who 
believe  in  the  purity  of  the  Home, 
this  volume  is  affectionately  dedi- 
cated by 

The  Author. 


ENDORSEMENT 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Sept  24,  1900 

We  have  looked  over  the  proofs  of  this  book,  and 
find  that  it  is  replete  with  important  information  for 
those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  history,  teachings 
and  tendencies  of  Mormonism. 

R.  W.  WAKE, 

Pastor  H.  E.  Church,  Salt  Lake  City. 

T.  C.  ILIFF, 
Presiding  Elder  M.  E.  Church,  Salt  Lake  City. 

H.  B.  STEELMAN, 

Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Salt  Lake  City. 

fM.  M.  PADEN, 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Salt  Lake  City. 

H.  H.  McCREERY, 

Pastor  at  Large,  Utah  Presbytery. 


PREFACE. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  volume  I  have 
sought  information  from  every  source  possible.  Among 
the  books  consulted  were:  The  Bible,  "The  Book  of 
Mormon,"  "The  Doctrine  and  Covenants,"  "The  Pearl 
of  Great  Price"  (All  of  these  are  claimed  by  the  Mor- 
mons as  their  sacred  books)  :  "The  Articles  of  Faith/' 
by  J.  E.  Talmage ;  "The  Gospel,"  "Outlines  of  Ecclesias- 
tical History,"  and  "New  Witness  for  God,"  by  B.  H. 
Roberts;  "Key  to  Theology,"  by  Parley  P.  Pratt;  "Mor- 
mon Doctrine,"  by  C.  W.  Penrose ;  "Catechism  for  Chil- 
dren," by  John  Jaques;  "Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  by 
T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse;  "An  Englishwoman  in  Utah,"  by 
Mrs.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse ;  "Mormon  Portraits,"  by  Dr. 
W.  Wyl;  "The  Golden  Bible,"  by  M.  T.  Lamb;  "The 
Book  of  Mormon,"  by  S.  J.  S.  Davis ;  "Pen  Pictures  of 
Mormonism,"  by  M.  L.  Oswalt;  "Mormon  Doctrine  of 
God  and  Heaven,"  by  A.  C.  Osborn;  "Some  Latter  Day 
Religions,"  by  G.  H.  Combs;  various  tracts  published 
by  the  League  for  Social  Service  and  others  too  numer- 
ous to  mention.  Besides  these  I  have  made  use  also 
of  articles  in  "The  Salt  Lake  Herald,"  "The  Salt  Lake 
Tribune,"  "The  Deseret  Evening  News,"  which  is  the 
official  organ  of  the  Mormon  Church,  "The  Kinsman," 
and  "Living  Issues,"  all  of  Salt  Lake  City;  Munsey's 
Magazine  for  June,  1900;  and  other  articles. 

I  have  made  frequent  quotations  from  these  books, 
tracts  and  articles  to  give  the  reader  a  statement  of  the 
Mormon  position  in  their  own  words,  or  to  show  how 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

others  regard  these  people.    I  gratefully  acknowledge 
my  indebtedness  to  the  writers  indicated  above. 

I  should  say  that  the  substance  of  these  chapters  was 
originally  published  in  the  Baptist  and  Reflector,  and  there 
were  numerous  calls  for  the  publication  of  the  articles 
in  book  form. 

I  have,  however,  revised  and  considerably  enlarged 
them  in  preparing  them  for  publication  in  this  more  per- 
manent form. 

May  God's  blessings  rest  upon  the  volume. 

Very  truly, 

Edgar  E.  Folk. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  July  28,  1900. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

Preface  3 

Introduction  5 

I.  Introductory  11 

II.  Its  History — 

The  Origin — Sidney  Rigdon — Joseph  Smith, 
Jr. — The  Book  of  Mormon 17 

III.  Its  History — 

Kirtland — Zion's  Camp — Temple  Dedicated — 
Fraudulent  Bank  25 

IV.  Its  History — 

Missouri — Rigdon's  Fourth  of  July  Sermon — 
Danite  Band 30 

V.  Its  History — 

Nauvoo— City  Charter — Candidate  for  Presi- 
dent— Nauvoo  a  Hell    35 

VI.  Its  History — 

Nauvoo  Continued — "Brother  Rushton"— Nancy 
Rigdon — Martha  Brotherton — William  Law — 
Death  of  Smith  42 

VII.  Its  History — 

Split  into  Factions — Brigham  Young — Moving 
Westward — Great  Salt  Lake  Basin — "Irrepressi- 
ble  Conflict" — Mountain  Meadows  Massacre..     61 

VIII.  Its  History — 

Brigham  Young  —  Rebellion  —  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston — Judge  Cradlebaugh— Apostasy — John 
Taylor — Wilford  Woodruff— Lorenzo  Snow...     69 

IX.  Its  History — 

Polygamy — "Revelation"  on   Subject 77 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 


PAGE. 


X.    Its  History— 

Laws  against  Polygamy— Cullom  Law— Ed- 
munds Law— Edmunds-Tucker  Law 83 

XL    Its  History— 

Statehood  —  Polygamy  Prohibited  —  Polygamy 
Practiced  90 

XII.  Its  History— 

The  Roberts  Case— Arguments  For  and  Against 
—Excluded  from  Congress  94 

XIII.  As  a  Religious  System— 

Its  Doctrine  as  to  God— God  a  Man— A  Married 
Man— A  Polygamist 108 

XIV.  As  a  Religious  System— 

Its  Doctrine  as  to  God— God  Was  Adam— Many 
Gods  "5 

XV.  As  a  Religious  System — 

Its  Doctrine  as  to  God— Men  May  Become  Gods.  119 

XVI.  As  a  Religious  System— 

Its  Doctrines  as  to  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit — 
Christ  a  Polygamist— The  Holy  Spirit  a  Sub- 
stance    128 

XVII.  As  a  Religious  System— 

The  Fall— A  Fall  Upward— The  Atonement- 
Saved  by  Obedience  133 

XVIII.  As  a  Religious  System— 

Faith  —  Repentance  —  Baptism  —  Laying  on  of 
Hands— The  Priesthood 142 

XIX.  As  a  Religious  System— 

Apostles— Prophets,  etc.— Smith's  Prophecies..   151 

XX.  As  a  Religious  System — 

Gifts  of  Tongues— Visions— Healing,  etc 156 

XXI.  As  a  Religious  System — 

Its  Belief  as  to  the  Bible— Book  of  Mormon — 
Testimonials  as  to  Origin 160 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XXII.  As  a  Religious  System— 

The  Book  of  Mormon— Outline  of  Book— "Re- 
formed Egyptian" — Evidences  of  Fraudulent 
Character 170 

XXIII.  As  a  Religious  System — 

The  Book  of  Mormon — Improbable  Stories — 
Bad  English — "Clumsiest  Hoax  Ever  Invented"  182 

XXIV.  As  a  Religious  System — 

The  Doctrine  and  Covenants  and  Pearl  of  Great 
Price— "Book  of  Abraham" 188 

XXV.  As  a  Religious  System— 

New  Revelations — Danite  Band — Blood  Atone- 
ment— Arguments  for  it  196 

XXVI.  As  a  Religious  System — 

Blood  Atonement — Instances  of  it — "Obedient 
to  Law"  210 

XXVII.  As  a  Social  System — 

Polygamy — Arrests   217 

XXVIII.  As  a  Social  System — 

Polygamy — What  the  Mormons  say  about  it — 
New  Cases  222 

XXIX.  As  a  Social  System — 

Reasons  for  Belief  in  Polygamy 231 

XXX.  As  a  Social  System — 

Interview  with  Editor  Charles  W.  Penrose 236 

XXXI.  As  a  Social  System— 

Comments  on  Interview  with  Editor  Charles  W. 
Penrose  245 

XXXII.  As  a  Social  System — 

Immoral  Results  of  Polygamy — Forced  Mar- 
riages— Remarks  of  Apostle  John  W.  Taylor — 
B.  Y.  T.  Co. — Z.  C.  M.  I. — Dancing — Swearing 
— Stealing— Lying 250 

XXXIII.  As  a  Social  System — 

Testimony  of  Others— Mr.  Scott  Anderson — 
Mr.  A.  T.  Schroeder ! 259 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XXXIV.  As  a  Social  System— 

Testimony    of    Others— Dr.    Wyl— Statistics- 
Christiansen — Summing  Up  265 

XXXV.  A  Menace- 

To  the  Home— To  the  Christian  Religion— To 
Our  Political  Institutions 275 

Appendix — 

A.  Observations  and  Experiences  in  Salt  Lake  City. .  285 

B.  The  Relation  of  Sidney  Rigdon  to  the  Book  of 

Mormon 307 

C.  The  Temple  Service  318 

D.  Some  Experiences  of  a  Mormon  Woman 336 

E.  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre— Complete  Confes- 

sion of  Major  John  D.  Lee 342 

F.  Mormon  Morals— A  Recent  Experience 362 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Portrait  of  Brigham  Young  .        .        .    Frontispiece 

The  Angel  Maroni n 

Portrait  of  Joseph  Smith 27 

Assembly  Hall 43 

Amelia  Palace            55 

The  Grave  of  Brigham  Young         .        .               .  75 

Portrait  of  Lorenzo  Snow                   ....  89 

Man's  Endowment  Cap                 103 

Revealed  Fig  Leaf  Apron 103 

Reformed  Egyptian,  in  which  Joseph  Smith 

Claimed   the   Golden  Plates  were   Written  119 

Portrait  of  Lucy  Smith 133 

Woman's  Cap  and  Slipper 133 

First  Presidency  and  Twelve  Apostles      .        .  147 

Mormon  Temples 157 

Lion  and  Bee  Hive,  with  Office  of  President 

Between 167 

Portrait  of  Wilford  Woodruff        .        .        .        .181 

Abraham  and  Pharaoh 195 

The  Resurrection  of  Osiris 215 

Portrait  of  John  Taylor 225 

Adam's  Endowment  Garment 247 

Brigham  Young  Statue 263 

Tabernacle 279 

Interior  of  Tabernacle 295 

Temple  Block 311 

Statue  of  Brigham  Young,  with  Mormon  Temple 

in  Background 323 

Eagle  Gate 343 

Portrait,  Ann  Eliza  Webb 357 

Tithing  Office 363 


INTRODUCTION. 

By  Geo.  A.  Lofton,  D.  D. 

The  freedom  of  the  19th  century  has  been  prolific  of 
religious  fads,  fancies  and  monstrosities.  The  preced- 
ing centuries  of  superstition  and  despotism  which  domi- 
nated the  human  conscience  and  enforced  conformity  to 
human  creeds  were  productive,  on  the  one  hand,  of  a 
dead  formalism,  and  on  the  other  of  the  miseries  of 
persecution — all  in  the  name  of  orthodoxy.  Millions 
went  to  the  dungeon  and  the  stake  for  the  testimony  of 
Jesus  Christ;  but  the  horrors  of  religious  sterility  and 
tyranny  were  largely  compensated  by  martyr  zeal  and 
spirituality  constantly  kindled  by  suppression.  The  reign 
of  light  and  liberty  which  dawned  in  the  Reformation 
of  the  1 6th  Century  opened  the  world  to  the  truth  which 
might  have  a  fair  field  upon  which  to  combat  error; 
and  the  great  floodgate  of  evangelical  Christianity  has 
been  lifted  and  the  tide  of  salvation  turned  upon  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  With  this  great  boon  and  blessing, 
however,  came  a  flood  of  evils,  only  not  so  bad  as  the 
former  because  bereft  of  the  power  to  enforce  their 
authority.  Other  forms  of  false  religion  have  multi- 
plied and  been  propagated  by  the  very  liberty  won  for 
conscience  at  the  hands  of  evangelical  Christianity. 
Satan,  who  once  forged  physical  chains  for  the  bodies  of 
men,  knows  how  to  break  the  golden  bands  of  enlight- 
ened freedom  and  turn  loose  the  demons  of  licentious 
anarchy ;  and  there  never  was  a  period  in  which  religious 
and  political  freedom  was  so  prostituted,  or  so  greatly 
in  danger  of  usurpation,  by  false  ideals  of  Christianity, 

5 


6  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

as  the  present.  The  demons  of  Spiritism,  Theosophy, 
Christian  Science,  Adventism,  Faith  Cure,  Holiness,  So- 
cialism and  the  like  are  everywhere  posing  in  the  name 
of  Christ  and  Christianity ;  and  there  is  nothing  so  false 
or  so  bad  under  the  pretension  of  religion  that  it  does 
not  have  a  deluded  following. 

One  form  of  these  latter  day  developments,  the  worst 
of  all,  is  Mormonism  which,  like  a  great  Python,  trails 
its  slimy  length  over  the  vast  regions  of  this  and  other 
countries.  The  title  of  the  present  volume  has  been 
rightly  called :  "The  Mormon  Monster."  The  religious 
system  of  Joseph  Smith  and  Brigham  Young  is  not  only 
a  stupendous  humbug  which  ought  to  be  patent  to  the 
most  stupid,  but  it  is  a  moral  and  spiritual  enormity — a 
vicious  departure  from  the  true  type  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion— an  abnormal  development  and  horrible  deform- 
ity— which,  though  disguised  in  the  very  terms  and  titles 
of  the  gospel,  ought  to  be  abhorrent  to  the  most  wicked. 
It  is  ostentatiously  paraded  as  the  "Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,"  established  under  a  fraud-' 
ulent  revelation;  and  in  the  habiliments  of  pompous  titles' 
and  pretentious  sanctity  it  incarnates  every  unclean  beast 
of  lust,  guile,  falsehood,  murder,  despotism  and  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places.  It  is  polytheistic  in  theology, 
polygamistic  in  life  and  polypragmatic  in  zeal  and  activity ; 
and  tolerated  or  encouraged  it  engulfs  religion,  society 
and  government  in  the  deepest  debauchery,  superstition 
and  despotism  known  to  Paganism,  Mohammedanism  or 
Mediaeval  Papacy.  Its  chief  cornerstone  is  polygamy. 
It  reveals  God  as  the  very  impersonation  of  anthropo- 
morphic licentiousness.  Its  Christ  is  the  redeemer  of 
those  only  who  are  sealed  in  polygamous  matrimony — 
himself  being  a  polygamist;  and  its  Paradise  is  only  a 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  7 

celestial  harem  for  God  and  for  men  and  women  ran- 
somed from  the  doom  of  anti-polygamous  infidelity — 
essentially  nothing  more. 

To  be  sure  Mormonism  preaches  in  the  terms  of  gospel 
faith,  repentance,  baptism,  obedience  and  righteousness 
—under  the  claims  of  regeneration,  justification  and  holi- 
ness—in  the  names  of  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  just 
as  we  do;  but  these  terms,  claims  and  names  mean  noth- 
ing in  the  light  of  Biblical  interpretation.     The  Bible  is 
wholly  neutralized  and  misapplied  by  supplementary  rev- 
elations and  teachings.     Before  the  deceived  masses  the 
Mormon  appears  fairly  evangelical.     They  know  nothing 
of  his  theological  definitions,  nor  of  his  underlying  dogma 
of   polygamy,  and  it  is  only  from  .the  original  sources  of 
this  hideous  system  that  the  secrets  of  Mormonism  can  be 
learned  and  its  designs  exposed— as  fully  exhibited  in  the 
present    volume.      The    ecclesiastical    orthography    and 
orthoepy    of    Mormonism    in    certain    respects    and    for 
public  effect  are  not  so  bad.  It  spells  and  pronounces  some 
words     correctly    and    often    uses    the    same    words 
that  we  do;  but  the  theological  and  spiritual  meaning  of 
its  terms  is  the  language  of  Ashdod  and  not  of  Canaan. 
At  its  very  best  it  is  an  external  and  superficial  ritualism 
based  upon  a  discursive  belief  and  a  dead  repentance 
which  depend  for  salvation  upon  baptismal  remission; 
and  internally  it  is  theologically  rotten  and  spiritually 
sterile  under  a  false  conception  of  God  and  of  human 
depravity,  the  chief  phase  of  which  depravity  in  others, 
according  to  the  Mormon  creed,  is  anti-polygamous  infi- 
delity.    Corresponding  with  its  theological  and  spiritual 
turpitude  its  organism  is  a  politico-ecclesiasticism  headed 
by  an  anti-Christian  priesthood,  bound  by  a  blood  atone- 
ment and  a  Danite  covenant  which  are  in  league  with 


8  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

hell  against  all  personal  liberty  and  civil  government  out- 
side of  itself  and  grounded  in  the  polygamous  degrada- 
tion of  the  human  race.  If  ever  the  government  of  the 
United  States  had  a  perilous  problem  on  hand  it  is  that 
of  Mormonism;  and  its  only  remedy  is  to  cut  the  Gor- 
dian  knot,  by  prohibition  of  polygamy. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  such  a  work  as  this  volume 
is  in  great  demand  at  such  a  time  as  this.  The  hour 
has  come  for  the  rescue  of  manhood  and  womanhood 
from  its  deepest  degradation  under  the  sanctions  of  the 
most  immoral  religion  ever  yet  conceived  by  the  devil. 
Now  or  never  is  the  time  to  strike  the  "Monster"  a  most 
deadly  blow.  Mormonism  was  never  more  active  and 
aggressive.  In  all  the  States  of  this  Union  and  in  many 
of  the  countries  of  Europe  its  missionaries  are  numbered 
by  hundreds  and  thousands ;  and  if  the  statistical  reports 
of  Mormonism  can  be  trusted,  its  growth  in  1899  com- 
paratively outstrips  that  of  any  other  reilgious  body. 
More  than  60,000  were  added  to  its  ranks  in  the  last 
year;  and  in  spite  of  all  kinds  of  opposition,  in  almost 
every  outraged  community,  its  missionaries  continue  their 
depredations  upon  our  families.  Though  turned  from 
many  a  door,  or  prohibited  from  preaching  in  our  public 
buildings,  they  scatter  their  misleading  literature  and 
gain  audience  to  individuals,  or  seize  upon  street-corner 
opportunities  to  spread  their  heresy.  Like  all  new  and 
false  religions  Mormonism  is  full  of  zeal,  debate  and 
proselytism;  and  its  propagandists  not  infrequently  gain 
advantage  by  the  cry  of  "persecution."  The  great  moral 
octopus  which  clutches  Utah  and  surrounding  territories 
is  reaching  out  its  suckered  arms  to  every  State  in  the 
Union ;  and  nothing  can  so  effectively  cut  of!  those  arms 
as  full  and  elaborate  information  up  to  date  and  circulated 


THE  MORMON   MONSTER.  9 

among  the  masses.  The  present  volume  in  popular  form 
meets  this  demand  of  a  perilous  hour.  It  is  a  great  con- 
tribution to  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  and  so 
presented  as  to  attract  universal  investigation. 

The  author  of  this  volume  is  the  distinguished  editor 
of  The  Baptist  and  Reflector,  of  Nashville,  Tenn.    He  is 
a  man  of  scholarly  attainments,  of  judicial  ability  and 
of  lofty  purpose;  a  gospel  preacher  and  writer  of  rare 
capacity  and  experience;  and  he  has  for  years  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  great  religious  and  social 
problems  which  affect  the  destiny  of  our  country  and 
Christianity.     Upon  the  subject  of  Mormonism  he  is  an 
especial  authority,  having  devoted  much  study  and  labor 
to  the  question,  not  only  by  reading  and  observation  at 
home,  but  by  personal  contact  with  the  vital  center  of 
Mormon  life  and  activity.     With  a  view  to  the  present 
volume  Dr.  Folk  spent  sometime  in  Utah  and  the  West ; 
and  with  his  well-known  conservatism  as  a  judicial  in- 
vestigator, the  public  can  safely  trust  his  utterances  upon 
this  subject.     Having  a  long  personal  acquaintance  with 
the  author  and  having  read  the  published  articles  which 
constitute  the  body  of  this  work,  the  writer  takes  great 
pleasure  in  thus  contributing  to  the  introduction  and  cir- 
culation of  a  volume  which  ought  to  be  in  the  hand  of 
every  Christian  and  American  who  loves  religious  and 
political  liberty  and  who  represents  the  manhood  or  the 
womanhood  of  this  generation.     As  a  critical  and  histor- 
ical production  it  is  a  high  compliment  to  the  author's 
ability;  and  all  who  write  on  the  subject  for  the  future, 
pro  or  con,  will  have  to  reckon  with  this  book.     It  is  a 
valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  day ;  and  may 
God's  richest  blessing  be  upon  the  author  and  his  work. 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  July  26,  1900, 


THE    ANGEL    MARONI, 


THE   FIGURE   THAT  CROWNS   THE  TOPMOST  PINNACLE   OF 
THE   MORMON   TEMPLE. 


The  Mormon  Monster. 


CHAPTER  I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 

There  are  several  plague  spots  upon  our  national  body 
politic.  One  of  these  is  the  saloon,  which  is  the  upas 
tree  of  our  civilization,  the  greatest  curse  which  could 
befall  a  people. 

But  one  of  the  most  terrible  of  the  plague  spots  is 
what  is  known  as  Mormonism.  This  is  a  travesty  upon 
the  name  of  religion,  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  decency, 
a  constantly  running  sore,  an  immense  octopus  reaching 
out  its  slimy  tentacles  and  seeking  to  seize  hold  upon  our 
religious,  social  and  political  institutions,  an  ugly  and 
misshapen  monster.  This  is  not  so  bad  as  the  saloon, 
only  because  it  is  not  so  widely  extended.  But  where 
it  exists  its  influence  is  even  more  baneful  than  that  of 
the  saloon,  because  touching  more  lives  with  its  deadly 
hand. 

For  sometime  Mormonism  gave  considerable  trouble 
to  the  people  of  this  country.  Then  it  seemed  to  be 
brought  under  control,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  sore 
might  be  healed,  or  the  system  left  to  perish  of  its 
own  rottenness.  But  recently  there  has  been  a  revival 
of  Mormonism. 

The  election  to  Congress  from  Utah  in  1898  of  a  Mor- 
monelder,  Brigham   H.  Roberts,  who  was  known  to 


12 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 


be  living  with  at  least  three  wives,  suddenly  brought  the 
subject  of  Mormonism  into  national  prominence  again. 

Contemporary  with  the  agitation  as  to  whether  he 
should  be  seated,  and  as  if  to  manufacture  public  senti- 
ment and  influence  legislation  in  his  favor,  Mormon 
missionaries  were  sent  everywhere.  There  are  now 
about  2,000  of  them  laboring  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  About  500  are  laboring  in  the  South,  with  head- 
quarters in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  where  they  have  what 
they  call  their  propaganda.     They  are  very  zealous. 

They  are  going  two  and  two  into  every  county  in  the 
South  and  into  every  home  where  they  can  gain  admit- 
tance, and  seeking  at  least  to  leave  their  literature.  Two 
of  them  came  to  my  home  on  June  30,  1899.  They  did 
not  get  farther  than  the  door.  They  are  coming  to  your 
home,  if  they  have  not  already  been  there.  They  are 
sleek  and  slick,  insidious  and  insinuating. 

Now  who  are  these  Mormons?  Where  do  they  come 
from  ?  What  do  they  represent  ?  What  is  their  belief  ? 
Why  are  they  here?  How  shall  we  treat  them?  These 
are  questions  which  occur  to  every  one  to  whose  home 
they  come  or  who  anticipates  their  coming.  A  great 
many  people,  knowing  little  about  them,  are  really  a  good 
deal  troubled  as  to  what  they  should  do  with  these  Mor- 
mons. In  my  capacity  as  editor  of  the  Baptist  and  Reflec- 
tor I  decided  to  write  a  few  articles  upon  the  subject 
of  Mormonism  to  give  our  people  information. 

By  way  of  preparation  I  re-read  several  tracts  on  the 
subject.  These  whetted  my  appetite  for  more  informa- 
tion and  I  got  some  books  and  read  them.  These  in- 
creased my  interest  still  more.  I  sent  to  Salt  Lake  City 
and  got  other  books.  The  subject  was  growing  on  me. 
I  then  decided  to  go  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  see  for  myself 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  13 

this  strange  people  and  find  out  whether  the  things  I  had 
read  about  them  were  true  and  what  kind  of  people  they 
were,  anyhow.  I  went  last  November.  I  spent  nearly 
two  weeks  in  Salt  Lake  City.  This  may  not  seem  a  very 
long  time.  But  remember,  I  had  been  studying  the  subject 
from  books  for  five  months  before  going.  My  purpose  as 
I  said  was  especially  to  see  from  personal  observation  on 
the  ground  whether  the  things  told  in  the  books  were 
really  true  and  also  to  study  the  social  conditions  existing 
there.    For  this  purpose  two  weeks  was  long  enough  time. 

With  letters  of  introduction  to  a  number  of  prominent 
citizens  of  Salt  Lake  City,  I  had  exceptional  opportunities 
for  information  as  to  Mormonism.  I  moved  quietly 
among  all  classes  of  people — Mormons,  ex-Mormons  and 
non-Mormons.  I  sought  information  from  every  source 
possible.  I  made  it  a  special  point  to  talk  with  every 
Mormon  I  could,  to  learn  from  their  own  lips  what  they 
really  believed.  I  talked  with  all  grades,  from  President 
Snow  down  to  a  bootblack.*  I  went  to  their  Tabernacle 
services,  to  their  Sunday  School,  their  ward  meetings, 
their  stores,  their  offices. 

For  these  reasons  I  think  I  have  some  information 
upon  the  subject  of  Mormonism  and  am  somewhat  pre- 
pared to  answer  the  questions  with  reference  to  Mor- 
mons which  were  asked  above.  This  I  shall  try  to  do 
fully,  and  I  trust  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one — except, 
perhaps,  the  Mormons.  If  any  one  should  think  that 
some  things  in  the  book  are  hardly  suitable  for  publi- 
cation, I  have  only  to  say  that  I  gave  the  facts  as  I 
found  them.  I  thought  it  best  to  do  so  in  order  that 
the  reader  might  be  able  to  see  Mormonism  in  all  of  its 
hideousness.     If  when  I   went  down   into  the  pool  of 

*An  account  of  my  futile  attempt  to  interview  President  Snow  is  ginev 
on  ppge  236. 


i4  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Mormonism  I  brought  up  some  mud,  please  remember 
that  it  was  not  my  mud.  I  shall  discuss  the  subject 
under  the  following  general  heads: 

I.  The  history  of  Mormonism. 

II.  Mormonism  as  a  religious  system. 

III.  Mormonism  as  a  social  system. 

IV.  Mormonism  as  a  political  system. 
Meanwhile  it  will  be  of  interest  to  give  the  Mormon 

articles  of  faith,  as  contained  in  the  tracts  which  these 
Mormon  missionaries  are  leaving  at  every  house  where 
they  will  be  received: 

ARTICLES  OF  FAITH 

of  the 

Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints. 


i.  We  believe  in  God  the  Eternal  Father,  and  in  His 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

2.  We  believe  that  men  will  be  punished  for  their  own 
sins,  and  not  for  Adam's  transgression. 

3.  We  believe  that  through  the  atonement  of  Christ  all 
mankind  may  be  saved,  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel. 

4.  We  believe  that  the  first  principles  and  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel  are  :  First,  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
second,  Repentance;  third,  Baptism  by  immersion  for 
the  remission  of  sins;  fourth,  Laying  on  of  hands  for 
the  Gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

5.  We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of  God,  by 
"prophecy  and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,"  by  those  who 
are  in  authority,  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer  in 
the  ordinances  thereof. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  15 

6.  We  believe  in  the  same  organization  that  existed 
in  the  primitive  church — namely:  Apostles,  Prophets, 
Pastors,  Teachers,  Evangelists,  etc. 

7.  We  believe  in  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecy,  reve- 
lations, .visions,  healing,  interpretation  of  tongues,  etc. 

8.  We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  as 
far  as  it  is  translated  correctly ;  we  also  believe  the  Book 
of  Mormon  to  be  the  word  of  God. 

9.  We  believe  all  that  God  has  revealed,  all  that  He 
does  now  reveal,  and  we  believe  that  He  will  yet  reveal 
many  great  and  important  things  pertaining  to  the  King- 
dom of  God. 

10.  We  believe  in  the  literal  gathering  of  Israel  and 
in  the  restoration  of  the  Ten  tribes;  that  Zion  will  be 
built  upon  this  [the  American]  continent;  that  Christ 
will  reign  personally  upon  the  earth,  and  that  the  earth 
will  be  renewed  and  receive  its  paradisaical  glory. 

11.  We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshiping  Almighty 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  conscience,  and 
allow  all  men  the  same  privilege,  let  them  worship  how, 
where  or  what  they  may. 

12.  We  believe  in  being  subject  to  kings,  presidents, 
rulers  and  magistrates;  in  obeying,  honoring  and  sus- 
taining the  law. 

13.  We  believe  in  being  honest,  true,  chaste,  benev- 
olent, virtuous,  and  in  doing  good  to  all  men;  indeed, 
we  may  say  that  we  follow  the  admonition  of  Paul, 
"We  believe  all  things,  we  hope  all  things,"  we  have 
endured  many  things,  and  hope  to  be  able  to  endure  all 
things.  If  there  is  anything  virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good 
report,  or  praiseworthy,  we  seek  after  these  things. 

Joseph  Smith. 


16  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

These  articles  of  faith  look  innocent  enough  on  the 
surface.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  some  of  the  principal 
articles  do  not  mean  what  they  appear  to  say,  but  quite 
the  opposite. 

But  I  shall  discuss  them  more  fully  later  on. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ITS  HISTORY— THE  ORIGIN— SIDNEY  RIGDON 
—JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR.— THE  BOOK  OF  MOR- 
MON. 

I  cannot  undertake  to  write  a  detailed  history  of  Mor- 
monism.  To  do  so  would  require  a  volume.  I  can  only 
give  a  general  outline  of  it  as  a  foundation  for  a  more 
intelligent  discussion  of  the  system. 

The  history  of  Mormonism  forms  one  of  the  strangest 
and  most  romantic  chapters  in  our  American  history. 
Says  Mr.  George  Hamilton  Combs,  in  that  excellent  book 
recently  published  by  the  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  "Some 
Latter  Day  Religions": 

"For  climacteric  comicality  Mormonism  should  be 
awarded  the  palm.  Its  romancing  is  refreshing  in  its 
very  audaciousness.  Jules  Verne  dreaming  is  here 
eclipsed.  Baron  Munchausen  marvels  seem  common- 
place. Of  absurdities  Pelions  are  piled  upon  Ossas,  but 
the  pile  rises  ever  higher.  Untruth  was  never  more 
picturesque.  From  first  to  last  the  history  of  this  cult 
is  dramatic  and  spectacular.  One  feels  that  he  has 
stumbled  upon  a  scene  in  the  Arabian  Nights,  rather  than 
upon  a  sober  chapter  of  a  real  religion. 

"Yet  Mormonism  is  to  be  reckoned  with.  It  takes 
itself  seriously.  Upon  most  transparent  frauds  it  would 
yet  build  an  enduring  temple.  It  has  the  evangelistic 
spirit.  Its  emissaries  are  spread  over  all  the  world. 
They  win  converts ;  the  religion  grows.  This  ism  is  be- 
ing felt  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  is  adding  gravity 
to  our  political  problems,  concerns,  and  deeply,  every 

17 


18  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

defender  of  our  political  institutions,  as  well  as  the  lovers 
of  our  Lord." 

In  the  early  part  of  this  century,  before  the  days  of 
railroads,  telegraphs  and  telephones,  the  new  frontier 
of  our  country  lay  between  the'  Allegheny  Mountains  and 
the  Mississippi  River,  and  stretched  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf. 

People  rushed  into  this  region  then  as  they  did  into 
California  in  1849,  or  mto  tne  Klondike  recently.  They 
were  full  of  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  ready  to  take  up 
with  any  new  thing. 

There  were  a  few  godly  preachers  among  them,  but 
the  increasing  demand  for  preaching  gave  rise  to  the 
camp  meeting.  Great  excitement  prevailed.  Religious 
emotions  expressed  themselves  in  the  strange  phenome- 
non called  the  jerks.  People  would  jerk  back  and  forth, 
shout,  dance,  sing,  laugh  and  cry  in  the  most  violent 
and  uncontrollable  manner.  New  and  strange  sects 
sprang  into  existence.  Some  died  early ;  others  have  re- 
mained until  this  day. 

Among  these  is  Mormonism,  which  is  a  direct  prod- 
uct of  those  times.  Two  young  men  were  thrown  to  the 
surface  during  that  period.     One  was 

SIDNEY    RIGDON. 

He  had  been  a  Baptist  preacher,  but  disappointed  in 
leadership  among  the  Baptists,  he  had' joined  the  Camp- 
bellites.  But  offending  them  by  his  "restless  disposition 
and  cunning  methods,"  he  became  pastor  of  an  independ- 
ent church  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.  While  there  he  made  the 
book-store  of  Patterson  &  Lamdin  a  place  of  frequent 
resort. 

Among  the  manuscripts  in  the  store  was  a  novel  writ- 
ten by  Solomon  Spaulding.     Spaulding  had  been  a  Pres- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  19 

byterian  preacher.    He  was  a  sort  of  harmless  ne'er-do- 
well.     He  had  failed  at  everything,  and  to  recover  his  for- 
tunes he  concluded  to  try  his  hand  at  literature.     His 
curiosity   was   excited   by   the    Indian   mounds   in   that 
country,   which   were   attracting  considerable   attention. 
So  he  based  his  story  on  these  mounds.     He  called  it 
"The  Manuscript  Found."     He  claimed  to  have  found 
a  manuscript  in  one  of  the  mounds  which  explained  their 
existence  and  also  the  existence  of  the  inhabitants  of 
North  and  South  America.     He  said  that  a  party  under 
the  leadership  of  Jared  came  from  the  old  world  after 
the  confusion  of  tongues  at  the  tower  of  Babel  and  settled 
in  South  America.     Many  years  after  a  party  came  from 
Jerusalem  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  the 
last  of  the  Kings  of  Judah,  and  settled  in  the  Southern 
part   of   North   America.     Eleven   years   after    another 
party  wandered  forth  and  settled  in  the  Northern  part 
of  South  America.    They  wrote  out  on  plates  their  his- 
tory and  buried  it  under  one  of  these  mounds,  and  he 
had  got  possession  of  it  and  so  wrote  their  history.     It 
was  a  very  pretty  story  and  would  have  made  an  inter- 
esting novel.     Mr.  Spaulding  read  it  over  to  a  number 
of  persons,  but  he  died  without  having  the  book  pub- 
lished. 

Mr.  Rigdon  became  deeply  interested  in  this  novel, 
and  according  to  abundant  and  indisputable  testimony 
which  I  shall  give  later*  he  copied  it  and  changed  it  by 
introducing  many  passages  of  Scripture  so  as  to  make 
it  appear  to  be  a  revelation  from  God.  He  left  Pitts- 
burg and  went  Westward,  preaching  that  the  latter  days 
were  at  hand,  and  that  God  was  about  to  reveal  new  truth 
to  his  chosen  few.  He  organized  a  church  near  Mentor, 
Ohio,  to  which  he  preached.    So  much  for  Mr.  Rigdon  at 

present. 

*  See  Appendix  B,  Page  307. 


20  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

The  other  young  man  thrown  to  the  surface  was 

JOSEPH  SMITH,  JR. 

He  was  born  in  Sharon,  Vermont,  Dec.  23,  1805.  His 
family  was  poor  and  shiftless.  His  father  was  a  kind  of 
vagabond,  selling  blessings  at  $3.00  each.  His  mother 
was  a  fortune  teller.  One  who  knew  her  well  describes 
her  as  follows:  ''She  looked  very  vulgar.  She  was  full 
of  low  cunning;  no  trick  was  too  mean  for  her  to  make 
a  little  money.  You  could  not  believe  a  word  of  what 
she  said.  *  *  *  Everybody's  opinion  of  her  was  that 
she  was  a  thorough  liar."  Both  parents  were  ignorant 
and  superstitious.  It  is  said  that  "lying  was  as  natural 
to  them  as  drinking  water." 

They  became  followers  of  a  Mr.  Wingate,  who  claimed 
to  be  able,  by  the  use  of  an  instrument  called  "St.  John's 
Rod,"  to  discover  gold,  silver,  currents  of  water  under 
ground  and  medicinal  roots  and  herbs,  and  to  cure  all 
kinds  of  diseases.  His  disciples  talked  much  about  the 
"Lost  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel,"  and  promised  a  gathering 
of  the  people  of  God  and  a  "Latter  Day  Glory,"  far  ex- 
ceeding the  glory  of  former  days. 

The  whole  movement  proved  to  be  a  swindle.  The 
leader  was  arrested  and  the  movement  failed.  The  birth 
of  Joseph  Smith  occurred  when  this  movement  was  at 
its  height,  and  while  his  mother  was  a  member  of  it. 

Ten  years  later  his  parents  moved  to  Palmyra,  N.  Y., 
and  four  years  afterward  to  Manchester,  in  the  same 
county.  He  grew  up  in  a  home  without  refinement.  His 
parents  were  illiterate,  and  intemperate.  In  addition 
to  health  and  strength  he  had  an  active  mind  and  a  vivid 
imagination.  Being  without  school  advantages,  he  fol- 
lowed his  own  crude  ideas.  He  was  fascinated  with  the 
adventures  of  Captain  Kidd,  and  with  some  young  friends 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  21 

he  would  hunt  at  night  for  buried  money  in  the  fields 
about  his  father's  house.  He  is  said  to  have  had  a  reli- 
gious turn  of  mind,  and  during  a  revival  he  was  exercised 
very  deeply  on  the  subject.  His  imagination,  his  super- 
stitions and  his  religious  excitement  combined  to  create 
wonderful  visions  in  his  untutored  mind. 

At  the  age  of  about  fifteen  he  began,  as  he  claimed,  to 
see  visions  and  dream  dreams.  These  experiences  con- 
tinued through  seven  years,  four  of  which  he  spent  away 
from  home,  seeking  employment  in  Pennsylvania  and  else- 
where. His  visions  attracted  attention.  The  newspapers 
began  to  talk  about  him. 

Sidney  Rigdon  read  what  they  said.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  here  was  a  fine  opportunity  to  get  Spaulding's  Manu- 
script, as  emended  by  himself,  published  in  such  a  way 
as  to  secure  a  hearing  and  be  successful.  Spaulding 
claimed  that  his  manuscript  was  found  in  a  mound. 
Smith  was  a  mound-digger  and  a  seer  of  visions.  He 
would  get  him  to  have  a  vision  about  finding  a  manuscript 
in  a  mound  and  would  then  publish  it. 

So  Rigdon  visited  Smith,  induced  him  to  marry  a 
lady  who  was  under  Rigdon's  influence— he  had  to  run 
away  with  her— and  soon  after  proposed  his  scheme,  to 
which  the  romantic  Smith  readily  agreed.  The  marriage 
took  place  Jan.  18,  1827.  On  Sept.  22d,  of  that  year, 
Smith  professed  to  have  made  his  great  discovery.  He 
said  that  he  was  told  in  dreams  and  visions  that  he  was 
chosen  of  the  Lord  to  be  a  great  prophet  to  restore  the 
gospel  which  had  been  taken  from  the  world  many  cen- 
turies ago ;  that  an  angel  came  to  his  room  at  midnight, 
awoke  him  and  read  to  him  five  chapters  of  the  Bible 
and  afterwards  took  him  to  a  hill  which  he  called  Cumo- 
rah.     This  is  four  miles  from  Palmyra,  N.  Y.,  and  is 


22  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

now  the  property  of  Admiral  Sampson.  He  said  the 
angel  had  told  him  about  these  plates  four  years  before, 
but  had  forbidden  him  to  unearth  them  until  now,  which 
he  proceeded  to  do  by  the  help  of  the  angel,  they  being 
covered  by  a  stone  of  considerable  size. 

He  described  the  plates  as  being  deposited  in  a  stone 
box,  formed  by  laying  stones  together  in  some  kind  of 
cement.  They  were  bound  by  rings  in  the  form  of  a 
book,  four  inches  wide,  eight  inches  long  and  six  inches 
thick.  Accompanying  these  were  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim,  the  two  stones  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  inter- 
pret them.  During  the  winter  of  1827-28  Smith  copied  a 
number  of  the  engravings  by  the  aid  of  an  amanuensis, 
Martin  Harris.  He  concealed  himself  behind  a  curtain, 
which  was  a  bed-blanket,  and  there  read  by  means  of 
the  Urim  and  Thummdm,  what  he  claimed  was  a  trans- 
lation of  the  engravings  on  the  plates,  and  Harris  wrote 
down  what  he  read.  Afterwards  Oliver  Cowdery  per- 
formed this  service.  The  work  thus  produced  was  pub- 
lished as  "The  Book  of  Mormon,"  which  is  the  sacred 
book,  the  Bible  (or  at  least  one  of  them)  of  the  Mor- 
mons. A  copy  of  it  lies  before  me  as  I  write.  I  shall 
have  a  good  deal  more  to  say  about  it  later. 

The  word  Mormon  is  a  Greek  word  and  means  a  spec- 
tre, a  hobgobblin,  "a  hideous  she  monster."  (Liddell  & 
Scott.)  Certainly  the  name  is  very  appropriate  to  Mor- 
monism.  One  of  the  angels  who  is  represented  as  ap- 
pearing to  Smith  was  named  Mormon,  and  the  book  was 
to  have  begun  with  his  revelation.  But  Mrs.  Harris, 
wife  of  the  scribe,  seeing  her  husband  devoting  so  much 
of  his  time  and  money  to  Mr.  Smith,  determined  to  have 
some  compensation,  and  so  she  stole,  says  Mr.  Smith, 
the  part  of  the  manuscript  containing  the  revelation  of 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  23 

Mormon  and  burned  it  up.  And  so  he  had  to  leave  it 
out,  as  it  would  have  been  too  much  trouble  to  trans- 
late it  again.  The  book,  therefore,  begins  with  the  reve- 
lation of  another  angel,  Nephi,  and  does  not  contain 
the  revelation  of  Mormon  at  all. 

Ah,  these  women!  What  trouble  they  do  cause  in 
the  world!  Witness  Eve  and  Pandora  and  Helen — and 
Mrs.  Harris.  Just  think  what  a  loss  she  caused  to  the 
world,  one  which  can  never  be  replaced! 

As  to  the  plates  themselves,  eleven  witnesses  testified 
to  having  seen  them — Oliver  Cowdery,  Martin  Harris, 
David  Whitmer,  whose  testimony  is  prefixed  to  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  the  father  and  two  brothers  of  Joseph 
Smith,  four  of  the  Whitmer  family  and  one  Page.  They 
affirmed  that  they  had  seen  the  original  plates,  "hefted" 
them,  and  that  they  had  "the  appearance  of  gold  and 
were  of  ancient  work  and  curious  workmanship."  Mr. 
Stenhouse,  author  of  "The  Rocky  Mountain  Saints,"  who 
was  himself  a  Mormon  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
says  that  he  "entered  into  correspondence  with  one  of 
the  Whitmers  to  elicit  from  him  information  concerning 
his  mental  condition  during  the  time  that  he  affirms  he 
saw  the  plates.  Whitmer  was  asked  if  he  was  in  his 
usual  condition  of  consciousness,  and  was  sensible  to  sur- 
rounding objects  when  he  beheld  the  plates.  But  he  re- 
fused to  answer  the  inquiry.  Harris  is  reported  to  have 
said  that  he  witnessed  them  by  'the  eye  of  faith/ " 
What  became  of  the  plates  no  one  knows.  Smith  said 
an  angel  carried  them  back  to  heaven  when  he  got  through 
with  them. 

During  the  translation  of  the  plates,  while  Smith  was 
dictating  to  Cowdery,  they  came  to  a  portion  of  the  nar- 
rative which  asserted  that  baptism  by  immersion  for  the 


24  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

remission  of  sins  had  been  taught  and  commanded  to 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America.  Smith  proposed  that 
they  should  "inquire  of  the  Lord  their  duty  in  regard 
to  the  matter."  "The  Lord/'  instructed  them  through 
a  messenger,  who  claimed  to  be  John  the  Baptist,  and 
they  went  into  the  water  together  and  Smith  immersed 
Cowdery  and  Cowdery  immersed  Smith.  Smith  laid 
his  hands  on  Cowdery's  head  and  ordained  him  to  the 
Aaronic  priesthood,  and  Cowdery  laid  his  hands  on  Smith's 
head  and  ordained  him  to  the  same  priesthood.  This 
was  the  beginning.  It  was  some  time  in  1829.  On  April 
6,  1830,  the  "Church  of  Christ"  was  organized  in  the 
house  of  Peter  Whitmer  in  Fayette,  Seneca  County,  N. 
Y.,  with  six  members,  as  follows:  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
Oliver  Cowdery,  Hyrum  Smith,  Peter  Whitmer,  Jr., 
Samuel  H.  Smith  and  David  Whitmer.  The  Smiths  were 
brothers  and  so  were  the  Whitmers. 

Now,  put  together  the  above  facts — the  religious  ex- 
citement, the  romance  of  Solomon  Spaulding,  its  emenda- 
tion by  Sidney  Rigdon,  a  former  Campbellite  preacher, 
its  similarity  to  the  gold  plates  discovered  ( ?)  by  Jos- 
eph Smith  and  translated  behind  a  curtain,  the  organi- 
zation of  a  church  based  on  this  Bible  (  ?) — and  you 
have  the  beginnings  of  Mormonism  in  a  nutshell.  It  is 
certainly  a  most  curious  record  for  the  beginning  of  a 
church  (?), 


CHAPTER  III. 

ITS     HISTORY— KIRTLAND— ZION'S      CAMP- 
TEMPLE       DEDICATED    -    FRAUDULENT 

BANK. 

For  a  time  conversions  to  the  new  faith  were  slow. 
Among  the  first  converts  was  Parley  P.  Pratt.  Soon 
afterward  he  visited  Sidney  Rigdon  at  Mentor,  and  of 
course  succeeded  in  converting  him  without  much  trouble. 
He  then  attempted  to  convert  his  church  and  was  largely 
successful.  In  December,  1830,  Rigdon  paid  a  visit  to 
Joseph  Smith  and  remained  for  some  time. 

Orson  Pratt  was  another  early  convert.  These  three 
—the  two  Pratts  and  Rigdon— were  men  of  ability.  They 
endeavored  to  justify  Mormonism  on  Biblical  grounds, 
basing  it  on  literalistic  interpretations  of  some  passages 
of  Scripture. 

During  the  visit  of  Rigdon  to  Smith  "the  Lord"  com- 
manded the  Saints  in  New  York  to  gather  in  Ohio,  which 
they  proceeded  to  do,  settling  at  Kirtland  in  the  North- 
ern part  of  the  State.  But  Smith  had  before  him  vis- 
ions of  the  "New  Jerusalem"  to  be  built  in  the  last  days. 
In  February,  1831,  his  followers  were  commanded  to  ask 
the  Lord,  and  he  "would  in  due  time  reveal  unto  them 
the  place  where  the  New  Jerusalem  should  be  built,  and 
where  the  saints  should  eventually  be  gathered  in  one." 

About  the  middle  of  July,  of  that  year,  Smith  and  sev- 
eral of  the  elders  met  at  Independence,  Mo.,  when  the 
following  "revelation"  was  received : 

"Hearken,  O  ye  elders  of  my  Church,  saith  the  Lord 
your  God,  who  have  assembled  yourselves  together  ac- 

*5 


26  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

cording  to  my  commandments  in  this  land,  which  is  the 
land  of  Missouri,  which  is  the  land  which  I  have  appointed 
and  consecrated  for  the  gathering  of  the  Saints;  where- 
fore this  is  the  land  of  promise  and  the  place  for  the  city 
of  Zion,  And  thus  saith  the  Lord  your  God,  if  you  will 
receive  wisdom,  here  is  wisdom.  Behold  the  place  which 
is  now  called  Independence  is  the  centre  place,  and  a  spot 
for  the  Temple  is  lying  westward  upon  a  lot  which  is  not 
far  from  the  courthouse." 

This  revelation  is  dated  Zion,  183 1.  In  another  reve- 
lation dated  Sept.  22,  1832,  it  is  stated  that  the  place 
was  appointed  by  "the  finger  of  the  Lord."  On  August 
2d  the  foundation  of  the  first  house  was  laid  at  Far  West, 
Mo.,  twelve  miles  west  of  Independence,  twelve  men 
taking  part,  in  honor  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

Soon  afterward  Smith  and  Rigdon  returned  to  Kirt- 
land.  On  arrival  there,  Smith  found  that  things  had  not 
been  going  well.  There  was  a  disposition  to  free  love- 
ism,  which  was  noticed  during  all  of  Smith's  lifetime. 
"The  new  spirit,"  says  Mr.  Stenhouse,  "was  very  affec- 
tionate, and  needed  to  be  strictly  guarded."     Evidently  so. 

Some  of  the  new  converts  were  charged  with  being 
"adulterers  and  adulteresses."  They  were  said  to  have 
"turned  away,"  and  the  others  were  warned  to  "Beware 
and  repent  speedily" — a  difficult  thing  to  do  with  the 
example  set  them.  In  a  revelation  (?)  about  this  time, 
Smith  declared,  "With  whom  God  is  angry  he  is  not  well 
pleased" — a  very  plain  proposition. 

In  March,  1832,  Smith  and  Rigdon  were  tarred  and 
feathered  by  a  mob,  and  Smith  was  nearly  killed,  but 
escaped  with  his  life.  In  April,  1833,  Brigham  Young, 
a  painter  and  glazier,  who  was  destined  to  play  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  the  history  of  Mormonism,  was  bap- 


JOSEPH    SMITH 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  27 

tized,  and  in  November  of  that  year  he  and  Smith  first 

met. 

On  July  23d  the  first  stone  was  laid  for  the  Temple  to 
be  built  in  Kirtland.  Meanwhile  the  boastful  spirit  of 
the  Mormons,  together  with  their  political  ambition,  led 
to  friction  between  them  and  the  people  of  Missouri. 

On  July  20th,  a  mob  tore  down  the  office  of  the  Star, 
the  Mormon  paper  at  Independence,  tarred,  feathered  and 
whipped  a  number  of  the  Mormons  and  ordered  them  to 
leave  the  county. 

On  Nov.  4th  a  battle  between  the  Missourians  and 
Mormons  took  place,  which  resulted  in  victory  to  the 
former,  and  led  to  many  of  the  Mormons  being  driven 
out  of  Jackson  County. 

Joseph  Smith,  still  occupied  with  building  the  Temple 
in  Kirtland,  had  himself  elected  "Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Armies  of  Israel,"  and  had  a  revelation  from  "the 
Lord,"  commanding  him  to  destroy  the  enemies  of  "the 

Lord." 

A  company  consisting  of  130  men,  including  some 
prominent  Mormon  elders,  was  organized  at  Kirtland, 
called  "Zion's  Camp."  This  company  marched  to  Mis- 
souri, intending  to  restore  the  banished  Mormons  to 
Jackson  County.  But  the  cholera  broke  out  among  them. 
Smith  got  another  revelation  from  "the  Lord,"  telling 
him  that  thes£  Mormons  did  not  deserve  to  be  restored 
until  they  had  been  chastised  and  had  learned  obedience, 
and  that  the  disappointment  to  the  warriors  who  had 
come  all  the  way  from  Ohio  by  direction  of  a  revelation 
from  "the  Lord"  to  fight  their  enemies,-  was  simply  "a 
trial  of  their  faith,"  and  they  were  instructed  to  dis- 
perse and  either  to  go  among  the  settlements  of  the  Mor- 
mons or  to  return  to  their  homes  in  Ohio. 


28  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Meanwhile,  Smith  was  making  considerable  preten- 
sions in  Kirtland.  He  chose  twelve  apostles,  appointed 
seventy  elders,  and  sent  them  out  to  convert  the  world. 
The  temple,  which  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  $40,000, 
was  dedicated  March  27,  1836.  Preceding  the  ceremony 
of  dedication  the  "Saints"  had  quite  a  lively  time.  Smith 
said  that  "visions  of  eternity"  were  opened  to  the  elders ; 
angels  ministered ;  "the  power  of  the  highest  rested  upon 
them" ;  and  "the  house  was  filled  with  the  glory  of  God." 

One  writer  accused  them  of  being  merry  from  another 
"spirit"  than  that  which  they  claimed  from  above. 

At  the  dedication  1,000  "Saints"  assembled.  Smith 
offered  a  dedicatory  prayer.  Brigham  Young  led  off  with 
speaking  in  tongues,  and  the  services  of  the  day  closed 
with  continued  shouting  of  "Hosannas"  and  "Amens." 

Everything  seemed  to  be  i-.oving  along  finely.  But 
elated  by  success  Smith  began  to  put  on  airs.  He  be- 
came proud,  despotic.  It  was  a  system  of  theocracy  he 
had  established,  in  which  he  was  the  prophet  and  mouth- 
piece of  "the  Lord."  It  was  for  him  to  speak;  it  was 
for  his  followers  to  obey.  Many  of  them  grew  weary 
of  such  despotism,  and  the  first  great  apostasy  took  place. 

In  order  to  provide  sufficient  revenues  for  his  grow- 
ing needs,  Smith  established  in  Kirtland  a  Safety  Society 
Bank,  of  which  he  was  cashier  and  Rigdon  president.  A 
Pittsburg  banker  said : 

"The  names  of  Joseph  Smith  as  cashier  and  Sidney 
Rigdon  as  president  were  signed  to  the  beautifully  en- 
graved bank-notes.  As  these  men  professed  to  be  the 
prophets  of  the  Lord,  having  daily  communion  with  an- 
gels, with  Christ  and  even  with  God  himself,  no  one  sup- 
posed that  they  would  lend  themselves  to  a  fraudulent 
issue  of  bank  paper.    Those  who  saw  the  notes  to  which 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  29 

their  names  were  attached  supposed  the  bank  to  be 
simply  a  savings  institution  in  which  the  Saints  could 
deposit  their  earnings,  while  they  would  be  invested  so 
as  to  pay  interest,  and  that  the  notes  represented  actual 
money  in  bank,  or  the  paper  of  good  men." 

But  this  was  not  the  case.     One  who  had  opportunity 
of  knowing  testifies  also  that  "In  the  bank  they  kept  eight 
or  nine  window  glass  boxes,  which  seemed  to  be  full 
of  silver;  but  the  initiated  knew  very  well  that  they  were 
full  of  sand,  only  the  top  being  covered  with  50-cent 
pieces"     The  cold,  hard-hearted,  unsympathetic  bankers 
of  Pittsburg  demanded  that  the  paper  of  the  bank  should 
be  redeemed,  either  in  cash  or  in  convertible  paper  of 
other  banks.     They  sent  an  agent  to  Kirtland  to  arrange 
matters.     He  was  coolly  informed  that  the  paper  had 
been  put  out  as  a  "circulating  medium"  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  people,  that  it  would  be  an  injury  for 
the  paper  to  come  home  and  be  redeemed,  that  it  could 
only  benefit  them  by  remaining  out  and  that  the  bank 
redeemed  nothing.     The  Pittsburg  bankers  then  refused 
to  take  the  paper.     It  was  forced  back  on  the  Safety  So- 
ciety Bank.     And  finally  the  bank  failed  utterly,  and  to 
escape  an  angry  mob  the  president  and  cashier  of  the 
bank  were  compelled   to  leave  hurriedly   for  Missouri 
"between  two  days,"  being  pursued  by  their  "enemies" 
for  about  200  miles,  and  making  some  narrow  escapes. 
This  experience  Smith  called  "persecution."     He  never 
returned  to  Kirtland,  although  he  had  previously  an- 
nounced that  "the  Lord"  had  accepted  the  Saints  there 
and  had  established  his  name  in  Kirtland  for  the  salva- 
tion of  nations. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ITS  HISTORY— MISSOURI— RIGDON'S  FOURTH 
OF  JULY  SERMON— DANITE  BAND. 

Smith  and  Rigdon  reached  Far  West,  Mo.,  March  12, 
1838.  Many  of  the  "Saints"  from  Kirtland  soon  fol- 
lowed. A  new  gathering  place  was  established  about 
twenty  miles  from  Far  West  at  a  place  called  Spring 
Hill,  to  which  Smith  gave  the  name  of  Adam-Ondi-Ah- 
man,  "'the  valley  of  God  in  which  Adam  blessed  his 
children."  This  was  said  to  be  the  "centre  of  the  earth," 
the  identical  place  where  Adam  and  Eve  betook  them- 
selves after  their  expulsion  from  the  garden  of  Eden. 

The  Saints  were  now  commanded  to  gather  here  in 
these  last  days,  But  "the  Lord"  who  revealed  the  com- 
mand to  Smith  did  not  seem  to  communicate  the  intel- 
ligence of  his  wishes  in  the  matter  to  the  people  of  Mis- 
souri. They  were  sturdy,  hard-working  pioneers.  They 
had  had  enough  experience  already  with  these  Mormons 
who  called  themselves  "Saints"  and  claimed  to  have  the 
direction  of  "the  Lord"  in  everything  they  did,  so  that 
they  were  arrogant  and  overbearing,  and  it  was  impos- 
sible for  any  one  else  to  get  along  with  them. 

In  a  Fourth  of  July  oration  Sidney  Rigdon  delivered 
a  Mormon  declaration  of  independence,  informing  the 
Missourians  that  they  must  cease  their  oppressions  and 
persecutions  of  the  "Saints  of  the  Most  High  God." 

In  the  speech  Rigdon  said :  "And  the  mob  that  comes 
on  usj  to  disturb  us,  it  shall  be  between  us  and  them  a 
war  of  extermination,  for  we  will  follow  them  till  the 

30 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  31 

last  drop  of  our  blood  is  spilled,  or  else  they  will  have 
to  exterminate  us;  for  we  will  carry  the  seat  of  war  to 
their  own  houses  and  to  their  own  families,  and  one  part 
or  the  other  shall  be  utterly  destroyed.  Remember  it 
then,  all  men." 

And  again :  "Neither  will  we  indulge  any  man  or  set 
of  men  in  instituting  vexatious  law  suits  against  us  to 
cheat  us  out  of  our  just  rights; ;  if  they  attempt  it,  we 
say  woe  be  unto  them.  We  this  day,  then,  proclaim  our- 
selves free,  with  a  purpose  and  a  determination  that  can 
never  be  broken ;  no,  never !  no,  never ! !  no,  never ! ! !" 

Naturally  such  language  set  the  Missourians  on  fire. 
They  resolved  on  action.  An  election  furnished  the  oc- 
casion for  the  beginning  of  hostilities.  There  were  rows, 
mobs,  fights,  etc. 

During  the  second  session  of  the  26th  Congress,  a 
document  of  nearly  fifty  pages  was  published  by  order 
of  the  Senate  giving  the  testimony  taken  before  the  judge 
of  the  fifth  Judicial  Circuit  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  on 
the  trial  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  and  others  for  high  trea- 
son and  crimes  against  that  State.  This  document  as- 
serts that  the  Mormon  leaders  were  guilty  of  the  grossest 
outrages  upon  the  Gentiles.  Burning  their  houses  and 
stealing  from  them  were  common  occurrences ;  threaten- 
ings  of  death  to  apostates,  or  those  who  would  not  take 
part  in  the  general  fight  against  the  Missourians,  were 
the  teachings  of  the  pulpit  orators. 

Mr.  Stenhouse  says: 

"With  such  an  array  of  circumstantial  evidence,  con- 
firmed by  a  variety  of  persons — Mormons  and  anti-Mor- 
mons— it  is  difficult  not  to  believe  that  the  few  leading 
men  around  Joseph  Smith,  particularly  Lyman  Wight 
and   Sidney  Rigdon,   were  not   thorough   fanatics   and 


32  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

guilty  of  gross  crimes;  and  if  Joseph  was  less  culpable 
it  was  due  to  his  greater  realization  of  responsibility  and 
better  judgment." 

In  an  affidavit  made  at  this  time,  Thomas  B.  Marsh, 
the  first  President  of  the  twelve  apostles,  says : 

AFFIDAVIT  OF  THOMAS  B.  MARSH. 

"They  have  among  them  a  company,  considered  true 
Mormons,  called  the  Danites,  who  have  taken  an  oath 
to  support  the  heads  of  the  Church  in  all  things  that  they 
say  or  do,  whether  right  or  wrong.  Many,  however,  of 
this  band  are  much  dissatisfied  with  this  oath,  as  being 
against  moral  and  religious  principles.  On  Saturday  last, 
I  am  informed  by  the  Mormons,  that  they  had  a  meeting 
at  Far  West  at  which  they  appointed  a  company  of  twelve, 
by  the  name  of  the  Destruction  Company,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  burning  and  destroying,  and  that  if  the  people  of 
Buncombe  came  to  do  mischief  upon  the  people  of  Cald- 
well, and  committed  depredations  upon  the  Mormons, 
they  were  to  burn  Buncombe ;  and  if  the  people  of  Clay 
and  Ray  made  any  movement  against  them,  this  com- 
pany were  to  burn  Liberty  and  Richmond. 

"The  plan  of  said  Smith,  the  Prophet,  is  to  take  this 
State;  and  he  professes  to  his  people  to  intend  taking 
the  United  States,  and  ultimately  the  whole  world.  This 
is  the  belief  of  the  Church,  and  my  own  opinion  of  the 
Prophet's  plans  and  intentions.  The  Prophet  inculcates 
the  notion,  and  it  is  believed  by  every  true  Mormon  that 
Smith's  prophecies  are  superior  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 
I  have  heard  the  Prophet  say  that  he  would  yet  tread 
down  his  enemies  and  walk  over  their  dead  bodies ;  that 
if  he  was  not  let  alone  he  would  be  a  second  Mohammed 
to  this  generation,  and  that  he  would  make  it  one  gorge 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  33 

of  blood  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean;  that  like  Mohammed,  whose  motto  in  treating 
for  peace  was  'the  Alcoran  or  the  Sword,'  so  should  it 
be  eventually  with  us,  'Joseph  Smith  or  the  Sword.' 
These  last  statements  were  made  during  the  last  sum- 
mer. The  number  of  armed  men  at  Adam-Ondi-Ahman 
was  between  three  and  four  hundred. 

Thomas  B.  Marsh. 

To  this  was  added  the  affidavit  of  Orson  Hyde,  as 
follows : 

"The  most  of  the  statements  in  the  foregoing  dis- 
closures I  know  to  be  true;  the  remainder  I  believe  to 
be  true." 

To  these  affidavits  is  appended  a  "certificate"  of  seven 
persons,  a  "committee  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  Ray 
county,"  who  assure  the  world  that  Marsh  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  that  Hyde  was  one  of  the 
Twelve,  that  they  had  left  the  Church,  "and  abandoned 
the  faith  of  the  Mormons  from  a  conviction  of  their 
immorality  and  impiety." 

Of  this  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Danite  band, 
which  was  organized  at  this  time,  Mr.  Stenhouse,  him- 
self for  twenty-five  years  a  prominent  Mormon,  says: 

"The  intelligent  Mormon  knows  today  that  though 
there  may  be  no  bona  fide  organization  called  the  Dan- 
ites,  there  have  been  in  church  fellowship,  from  the  days 
of  Avard  up  to  the  present,  men  who  have  done  the  deeds 
charged  to  the  Danites,  ready  to  execute  the  dirtiest  and 
most  diabolical  plans  that  ever  human  or  demoniac  vin- 
dictiveness  could  conceive." 

The  significance  of  the  word  Danite  is  found  in  Gen. 
xlix,  17:  "Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way,  an  adder 
in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse's  heels,  so  that  his  rider 
shall  fall  backward." 


34  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

The  friction  between  the  Missourians  and  Mormons 
continued  and  grew  in  intensity,  and  finally  resulted,  by 
the  aid  of  the  State  troops,  in  the  triumph  of  the  Mis- 
sourians, and  the  capture  and  imprisonment  of  the  Mor- 
mon leaders.  In  a  speech  to  the  Mormons  just  before 
they  were  sent  to  jail,  Gen.  Clark  said : 

"You  have  always  been  the  aggressors,  you  have 
brought  upon  yourselves  these  difficulties  by  being  dis- 
affected and  not  being  subject  to  rule.  And  my  advice 
is  that  you  become  as  other  citizens,  lest  by  a  recurrence 
of  these  events  you  bring  upon  yourselves  irretrievable 
ruin." 

Gen.  Clark  also  said  in  a  dispatch  to  Boggs,  dated 
Nov.  io,  1838. 

"There  is  no  crime,  from  treason  down  to  petit  larceny, 
but  these  people,  or  a  majority  of  them,  have  been  guilty 
of — all,  too,  under  the  counsel  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  the 
Prophet.  They  have  committed  treason,  murder,  arson, 
burglary,  robbery,  larceny,  and  perjury.  They  have  so- 
cieties formed  under  the  most  binding  covenants  in  form 
and  the  most  horrid  oaths  to  circumvent  the  laws  and 
put  them  at  defiance ;  and  to  plunder  and  burn  and  mur- 
der, and  divide  the  spoils  for  the  use  of  the  Church." 

After  confinement  in  jail  for  several  months,  Smith 
and  his  fellow  Mormons,  in  April,  1839,  were  indicted 
on  charges  of  treason,  murder,  larceny,  theft  and  steal- 
ing. They  asked  for  a  change  of  venue,  which  was 
granted.  While  they  were  being  conveyed  from  one  coun- 
ty to  another,  the  sheriff  who  had  them  in  charge,  to  get 
rid  of  them,  gave  them  permission  to  escape,  of  which 
courtesy  they  very  readily  availed  themselves,  and  they 
unceremoniously  fled  from  the  "land  of  promise"  and 
never  returned. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ITS  HISTORY— NAUVOO— CITY  CHARTER- 
CANDIDATE  FOR  PRESIDENT— NAUVOO  A 
HELL. 

The  new  gathering  place  of  the  "Saints"  was  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  in  Illinois,  forty  miles  above 
Quincy  and  twenty  miles  below  Burlington,  Iowa.  Here 
a  town  was  located,  called  Nauvoo,  "the  beautiful."  By 
revelation  the  scattered  "Saints"  from  Missouri  and 
from  all  parts  of  the  earth  were  commanded  to  gather 
to  this  new  Zion. 

Under  the  direction  of  Smith  they  now  began  to  enter 
actively  into  politics.  By  concentrating  their  votes  they 
wielded  a  potent  influence  upon  elections.  Both  politi- 
cal parties,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  sought  their  influ- 
ence. They  contributed  largely  to  the  success  of  the 
Whig  ticket  in  1840. 

The  Legislature  of  Illinois  during  its  session  of  1840-41, 
readily  granted  to  the  agents  of  Joseph  Smith  their  re- 
quest for  a  charter  for  the  City  of  Nauvoo,  and  the  incor- 
poration of  the  militia  into  a  body  called  the  "Nauvoo 
Legion." 

One  section  of  the  city  charter  read :  "All  power  is 
granted  to  the  City  Council  to  make,  ordain,  establish, 
and  execute  all  ordinances  not  repugnant  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  State  or  of  the  United  States,  or,  as  they 
may  deem  necessary  for  the  peace  and  safety  of  said  city." 

This  was  all  that  Smith  wanted.  It  was  now  for  him 
to  decide  what  was  "necessary"  for  the  peace  and  safety 

35 


36  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

of  the  city.  The  City  Council  passed  an  ordinance  that 
no  citizen  could  be  taken  from  Nauvoo  by  any  process 
of  law  whatever  without  the  endorsement  of  the  mayor 
as  to  its  legality. 

Commenting  on  this  law  Governor  Ford,  in  his  his- 
tory of  Illinois,  said: 

"Thus  it  was  proposed  to  re-establish  for  the  Mor- 
mons a  government  within  a  government,  a  legislature 
with  power  to  pass  ordinances  at  war  with  the  laws  of 
the  State ;  courts  to  execute  them,  with  but  little  depend- 
ence upon  the  constitutional  judiciary,  and  a  military  force 
at  their  own  command,  to  be  governed  by  its  own  laws 
and  ordinances,  and  subject  to  no  State  authority  but 
that  of  the  Governor."  Gov.  Ford  signed  the  charter, 
but  before  long  he  saw  his  own  warrant  for  the  arrest 
of  Smith  set  aside.  In  a  communication  dated  Sept. 
7,  1842,  he  says : 

"I  must  express  my  surprise  at  the  extraordinary  as- 
sumption of  power  by  the  board  of  aldermen,  as  con- 
tained in  said  ordinance;  from  my  recollection  of  the 
charter,  it  authorizes  the  municipal  court  to  issue  writs 
of  habeas  corpus,  in  all  cases  of  imprisonment  or  cus- 
tody, arising  from  the  authority  of  the  ordinances  of  said 
city,  but  that  power  was  granted  or  intended  to  be  grant- 
ed to  release  persons  held  in  custody  under  the  authority 
of  writs  issued  by  the  courts  or  the  executive  of  the  State, 
is  most  absurd  and  ridiculous,  and  an  attempt  to  exercise 
it  is  a  gross  usurpation  of  power  that  cannot  be  tolerated." 

On  April  6,  1841,  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  temple 
was  laid  in  Nauvoo  with  elaborate  ceremonies  in  which 
the  military  authorities  blended  with  the  ecclesiastical, 
''Lieutenant-General  Smith,"  of  the  Nauvoo  Legion  tak- 
ing precedence  of  Joseph  Smith  the  Prophet. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  37 

Smith  was.  now  in  the  height  of  his  glory.  He  thought 
himself  secure  from  all  outside  interference.  But  there 
was  trouble  ahead.  Governor  Boggs,  of  Missouri,  made 
a  requisition  upon  Governor  Carlin,  of  Illinois,  to  sur- 
render Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon  and  other  leading 
Mormons  as  "fugitives  from  justice."  A  writ  was  issued 
for  their  arrest,  but  the  sheriff  "could  not  find  them." 
The  matter  was  dropped  for  a  time. 

But  the  people  of  Illinois,  becoming  better  acquainted 
with  their  new  fellow-citizens,  became  as  dissatisfied  with 
their  presence  as  the  Missourians  had  been.  Charges 
were  preferred  against  Smith  and  other  Mormon  lead- 
ers. Other  writs  were  issued  against  them.  These  were 
set  aside  by  the  courts. 

Governor  Ford  says : 

"No  further  demand  for  the  arrest  of  Joe  Smith  hav- 
ing been  made  by  Missouri,  he  became  emboldened  by 
success.  The  Mormons  became  more  arrogant  and  over- 
bearing. In  the  winter  of  1843-4  the  common  council 
passed  some  further  ordinances  to  protect  their  leaders 
from  arrest  on  demand  from  Missouri.  They  enacted 
that  no  writ  issued  from  any  other  place  than  Nauvoo 
for  the  arrest  of  any  person  in  it  should  be  executed  in 
the  city,  without  an  approval  endorsed  thereon  by  the 
mayor ;  that  if  any  public  officer,  by  virtue  of  any  foreign 
writ,  should  attempt  to  make  an  arrest  in  the  city,  without 
such  approval  of  his  process,  he  should  be  subject  to 
imprisonment  for  life,  and  that  the  Governor  of  the  State 
should  not  have  the  power  of  pardoning  the  offender  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  mayor.  When  these  ordinances 
were  published  they  created  general  astonishment.  Many 
people  began  to  believe  in  good  earnest  that  the  Mormons 


38  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

were  about  to  set  up  a  separate  government  for  them- 
selves in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  the  State." 

In  1844  the  name  of  Joseph  Smith  was  put  forward  as  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  against 
Polk  and  Clay,  and  hundreds  of  elders  were  sent  over  the 
States  preaching  Mormonism  and  electioneering  for 
Smith.  He  was  not  elected,  however;  Polk  was,  you 
remember.  Judge  C.  C.  Goodwin  says  in  Munsey's  Maga- 
zine for  June,  1900,  that  Dan  Rice,  of  circus  fame,  told 
him  "some  years  ago  that  he  knew  Joe  Smith  intimately  at 
Nauvoo ;  that  one  day  Smith  said  to  him :  'Dan,  the  people 
are  growing  restless.  We  must  give  them  a  miracle.  The 
river  is  muddy;  you  build,  on  the  quiet,  a  platform,  and 
anchor  it  about  a  foot  below  the  surface  of  the  water.  I 
will  walk  on  the  water.'  'Well/  Rice  went  on,  'I  fixed  the 
platform  all  right,  only  about  twelve  feet  out  from  shore 
I  left  out  a  couple  of  planks.  Smith  walked  the  water  all 
right  until  he  came  to  where  the  planks  were  out ;  then  he 
went  down  and  the  miracle  was  smashed  all  to  smither- 
eens/ " 

About  this  time  he  promulgated  his  "spiritual  wife" 
doctrine,  by  which  a  Mormon  may  be  "sealed"  spiritually 
to  the  wife  of  another  man,  which  sealing  gives  him  mat- 
rimonial privileges  in  the  next'  world,  and  frequently  in 
this  world,  also.  This  doctrine  was  evidently  invented  to 
cover  up  with  some  sort  of  excuse  his  various  adulterous 
intentions  and  practices. 

A  woman  who,  with  two  small  children,  made  her 
escape  from  Nauvoo  about  this  time,  is  quoted  as  saying : 

"Nauvoo  is  nearer  like  hell  than  any  other  place  on 
earth  can  be.  None  who  have  any  regard  for  virtue 
would  stay  there  a  day  if  they  could  get  away  with  their 
lives.    Doubtful  members  are  closely  watched  by  a  band 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  39 

of  organized  police,  called  'Danites.'  I  have  known  many 
to  start,  but  soon  a  party  of  Danites  would  start  in  pur- 
suit. Generally  the  pursued  were  never  again  heard  from. 
This  fear  of  death  keeps  numbers  of  their  followers  from 
deserting." 

She  continued :  "All  the  leaders  are  more  or  less  guilty 
of  the  most  gross  violations  of  the  laws  of  decency,  but 
Joe  Smith  is  the  most  perfect  monster  of  licentiousness 
that  ever  an  all-wise  God  permitted  to  live.  I  have  often 
wondered  why  he  was  permitted  to  live.  Not  content  with 
the  ordinary  forms  of  indecency,  he  seems  always  invent- 
ing some  new  and  more  odious  forms.  I  know  he  has 
ruined  hundreds,  yes,  hundreds,  of  young  girls,  besides 
debauching  scores  of  other  men's  wives,  and  I  doubt  if 
five  hundred  would  cover  the  number  of  his  illegitimate 
children/' 

In  enumerating  Smith's  achievements,  Mr.  Stenhouse 
says: 

"The  poor  farm  laborer  merges  in  the  preacher,  the 
preacher  becomes  a  translator,  a  prophet,  a  seer,  a  reve- 
lator,  a  banker,  an  editor,  a  mayor,  a  lieutenant-general,  a 
candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  world's  greatest  repub- 
lic, and,  last  of  all,  though  not  the  least  difficult  of  his 
achievements,  he  becomes  the  husband  of  many  wives." 

He  also  says :  : 

"It  is  well  known  in  Utah  that  two  sisters,  Mrs.  B 

and  Mrs.  J ,  were  'sealed'  wives  to  Joseph  while  they 

were  still  the  wives  of  Mr.  B and  Mr.  J — • — .  To  the 

latter  a  son  was  born,  long  after  Mrs.  J.  had  been  'sealed' 
to  Joseph." 

He  speaks  of  the  "personal  testimony"  as  being  ((so 
abundant  that  Joseph  Smith  both  taught  and  practiced 


4o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

polygamy,  or,  as  a  Mormon  lady  who  knew  him  well  once 
said,  practiced  something  else." 

Dr.  W.  Wyl  says:  "It  is  now  a  well  established  his- 
torical fact  that  the  origin  of  Mormon  polygamy,  or  'celes- 
tial marriage/  was  nothing  but  the  unbounded  and  un- 
governed  passion  of  the  prophet  for  the  other  sex." 

Mr.  Webb,  an  old  Mormon,  who  knew  Smith  for  eleven 
years,  told  Dr.  Wyl:  "Joseph  [Smith]  and  John  D.  Lee 
were  the  most  libidinous  men  I  ever  knew." 

Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Pratt,  a  Mormon  woman  who  resisted 
Smith's  advances — about  the  only  one  who  ever  did — and 
who  was  slandered  and  persecuted  for  doing  so,  said: 
"Joseph  was  the  most  licentious  and  Brigham  Young  the 
most  bloodthirsty  of  men."  Dr.  Wyl  once  said  to  Mrs. 
Pratt:  "I  have  seen  a  statement  in  a  book  that  Joseph 
had  eighty  wives  at  the  time  of  his  death.    Is  that  true  ?" 

Mrs.  Pratt  smiled  and  said :  "He  had  many  more,  my 
dear  sir;  at  least  he  had  seduced  many  more,  and  those 
with  whom  he  had  lived  without  their  being  sealed  to  him, 
were  sealed  to  him  after  his  death,  to  be  among  the  num- 
ber of  his  'queens'  in  the  other  world.  All  those  women 
were  divided  among  his  friends  after  his  tragic  death,  so 
that  they  might  be  'proxy-husbands'  to  them  on  earth ; 
while  in  the  celestial  kingdom  they  would,  with  their  off- 
spring, belong  to  Brother  Josepji,  the  Christ  of  this  dis- 
pensation." 

Again  Mrs.  Pratt  said :  "Everybody  knew  in  Nauvoo 
that  the  Partridge  girls  lived  with  Joseph  a  long  time  be- 
fore he  got  his  celebrated  revelation  about  celestial  mar- 
riage, dated  July  12,  1843.  The  Partridge  girls  were  very 
good  natured.  After  Joseph's  death  one  was  sealed  to 
Brigham  and  the  other  to  Apostle  Amasa  Lyman. 
Joseph's  taste  was  of  very  large  dimensions ;  he  loved 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  41 

them  old  and  young,  pretty  and  homely.  He  sometimes 
seduced  mothers  to  keep  them  quiet  about  his  connection 
with  their  daughters.  There  was  an  old  woman  called 
Durfee.  She  knew  a  good  deal  about  the  prophet's  amor- 
ous adventures  and,  to  keep  her  quiet,  he  admitted  her  to 
the  secret  blessings  of  celestial  bliss.  I  don't  think  that 
she  was  ever  sealed  to  him,  though  it  may  have  been  the 
case  after  Joseph's  death,  when  the  temple  was  finished. 
At  all  events,  she  boasted  here  in  Salt  Lake  of  having  been 
one  of  Joseph's  wives.  Heber  C.  Kimball  and  Brigham 
Young  took  the  lion's  share  at  the  division  of  Joseph's 
wives  after  his  death.  Joseph  had  a  number  of  lady 
friends,  sealed  or  not  sealed,  who  permitted  him  to  use 
their  houses  as  a  kind  of  assignation  houses  for  ren- 
dezvous with  other  women." 

Heber  C.  Kimball,  Brigham  Young's  right-hand  man, 
said :  "I  sat  once  with  Joseph  in  his  office  in  the  Mansion 
House.  He  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  weeding 
in  a  garden  a  young  married  woman  whom  we  both  knew. 
He  told  me  to  go  to  her  and  request  her  to  come  to  him, 
and  he  would  have  her  sealed  to  himself  this  very  moment. 
I  went  and  told  the  woman  to  come  to  Brother  Joseph. 
She  ran  to  the  house  to  comb  her  hair  and  'fix  up'  gen- 
erally, and  then  followed  me  to  the  prophet.  I  performed 
the  sealing  ceremony  and  retired." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ITS  HISTORY  —  NAUVOO  CONTINUED— 
-BROTHER  RUSHTON"— NANCY  RIGDON— 
MARTHA  BROTHERTON— WILLIAM  LAW- 
DEATH  OF  SMITH. 

Here  are  some  other  testimonies  gathered  by  Dr.  Wyl, 
showing  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Nauvoo  at  this  time  : 

Mr.  W. : 

"There  were  many  small  rooms,  with  beds,  in  the  tem- 
ple in  Nauvoo.  They  turned  the  house  of  the  Lord  into  a 
house  of  prostitution.  The  wife  of  Amasa  Lyman,  apostle 
and  apostate,  used  to  say  that  they  had  many  little  bed- 
rooms in  the  temple,  and  that  the  newly-sealed  couples 
used  to  retire  to  these  rooms  with  provisions  for  two  or 
three  days." 

"Amasa  Lyman,  the  apostle,  who  later  became  a  Vile 
apostate,'  told  me  that  Joseph,  Brigham  Young,  and  other 
apostles  used  to  dance  in  the  Endowment  House  with  the 
Lord's  'handmaids,'  their  spiritual  wives.  Those  dances 
were  performed  in  Adamic  costume,  and  a  fiddler  was 
'ordained  and  set  apart'  for  the  purpose.  I  knew  this  to 
be  an  absolute  fact ;  it  has  been  confirmed  to  me  by  other 
well-informed  persons." 

Mrs.  P. : 

"You  hear  often  that  Joseph  had  no  polygamous  off- 
spring. The  reason  of  this  is  very  simple.  Abortion  was 
practiced  on  a  large  scale  in  Nauvoo.  Dr.  John  C.  Ben- 
nett, the  evil  genius  of  Joseph,  brought  this  abomination 
into  a  scientific  system.    He  showed  to  my  husband  and 

4* 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  43 

me  the  instruments  with  which  he  used  to  'operate  for 
Joseph/  There  was  a  house  in  Nauvoo,  'right  across  the 
flat,'  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  town,  a  kind  of 
hospital.  They  sent  the  women  there  when  they  showed 
signs  of  celestial  consequences.  Abortion  was  practiced 
regularly  in  this  house." 

Mrs.  H. : 

''Many  little  bodies  of  new-born  children  floated  down 
the  Mississippi." 

Mrs.  Pratt :  "You  should  bear  in  mind  that  Joseph  did 
not  think  of  a  marriage  or  sealing  ceremony  for  many 
years.  He  used  to  say  to  his  intended  victims,  as  he  did 
tome: 

'God  does  not  care  if  zve  have  a  good  time,  if  only 
other  people  do  not  know  it.'  He  only  introduced  a  mar- 
riage ceremony  when  he  had  found  out  that  he  could  not 
get  certain  women  without  it.  I  think  Louisa  Beeman 
was  the  first  case  of  this  kind.  If  any  woman,  like  me, 
opposed  his  wishes,  he  used  to  say :  'Be  silent,  or  I  shall 
ruin  your  character.  My  character  must  be  sustained  in 
the  interest  of  the  church.' ' 

The  following  stories  are  told  by  Dr.  Wyl : 

"Joseph  Smith  was  shrewd  enough  to  have  a  few  honest 
men  around  him  whom  he  placed  in  responsible  positions, 
who  filled  them  with  fidelity  and  self-sacrifice,  being  at 
the  same  time  in  a  great  measure  ignorant  of  the  duplicity 
and  wickedness  of  the  imposter.  None  were  more  faith- 
ful or  truthful  than  Elder  Richard  Rushton,  the  trusty 
steward  employed  by  Joseph  in  the  Mansion  House  in 
Nauvoo.  Rushton  was  a  good,  honest  man  of  fine 
instincts,  and  had  served  faithfully  for  some  years,  hold- 
ing that  position  when  the  bodies  of  Joseph  and  Hyrum 
were  brought  to  Nauvoo,  and  he  received  them.    It  was 


44  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

his  duty  to  lock  up,  every  night,  most  of  the  rooms,  espe- 
cially the  pantry,  storeroom,  larder,  etc.,  and  then  to  give 
the  keys  to  'Sister  Emma.'  She  would,  on  retiring,  place 
the  bunch  of  keys  in  a  large  pocket  that  was  nailed  on  the 
wall  at  the  head  of  her  bed.  About  4  o'clock  every  morn- 
ing Brother  Rushton  would  tap  at  the  bedroom  door  in 
order  to  receive  the  keys  and  open  the  hotel.  Emma  on 
hearing  the  raps  would  say,  'Come  in,  Brother  Rushton,' 
and  would  hand  him  the  keys  from  the  pocket,  and  give 
such  orders  as  were  needed. 

"It  so  'came  to  pass'  once  upon  a  time,  that  the  gro- 
ceries and  other  provisions  necessary  for  the  use  of  the 
hotel  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  a  famine  seemed  pend- 
ing in  the  larder.  Fortunately,  however,  Joseph  sold  a 
fine  black  horse,  which  had  been  presented  to  him,  for 
three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  or  so,  and  also  a  city  lot 
or  two,  for  about  four  hundred  dollars.  With  the  sales 
of  the  horse  and  land,  and  a  little  cash  on  hand,  he  mus- 
tered up  about  nine  hundred  dollars,  which  he  cheerfully 
placed  in  Emma's  hands,  saying:  'We  are  out  of  provis- 
ions; take  this  and  go  down  to  St.  Louis  and  buy  what 
is  needed.  Captain  Dan  Jones  will  fire  up  the  "Maid  of 
Iowa"  (a  little  steamboat  always  ready  for  church  use) 
and  take  you  down.'  Emma  started  for  St.  Louis.  The 
going,  purchasing  and  return  occupied  about  a  week.  At 
night,  after  the  departure  of  the  'elect  lady,'  the  steward 
gave  his  keys  to  the  prophet,  and  in  the  morning  he  as 
usual  stepped  lightly  and  rapped  at  the  door  of  the  bed- 
room. A  voice,  strange  to  his  ear,  yet  of  feminine  soft- 
ness, rather  startled  him  in  response  with  the  words 
'Come  in/  He  entered  timidly,  when  lo  and  behold !  there 
lay  in  Emma's  bed  and  stead  the  beautiful  and  attractive 
young  wife  of  Elder  Edward  Blossom,  a  high  counsellor 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  45 

of  Zion  (afterwards  exalted  to  the  apostleship  by  Brigham 
Young).  With  a  pair  of  laughing,  glistening  eyes  and 
with  a  smile  of  happy  sweetness,  she  spoke  in  soft  and 
pleading  accents:  7  suppose,  Brother  Rushton,  I  shall 
have  to  be  Sister  Emma  to  you  this  morning,'  as  she 
gracefully  handed  the  keys  to  him.  Astonished  and  blush- 
ing, the  faithful  steward  left  the  room  to  resume  his 
duties,  leaving  the  adulterous  prophet  and  his  charmer  to 
themselves.  The  same  thing  was  repeated  each  morning 
during  the  week  Emma  was  away  purchasing  supplies  for 
the  prophet's  hotel. 

"In  relating  this  occurrence  to  another  of  my  most  pre- 
cise and  valuable  witnesses,  Brother  Rushton,  though  no 
seeker  after  effect,  added  the  following  picturesque  de- 
tails :  'Emma  used  to  keep  the  keys  of  the  hotel  in  a  richly 
ornamented  wallet  given  to  her  by  some  well-to-do  En- 
glish friends.  When  Joseph  saw  how  dumbfounded  I  was 
he  sat  up  in  his  red  flannel  nightrobe  and  said  in  a  hasty, 
commanding  tone :  "That's  all  right,  Brother  Rushton," 
making  a  movement  with  his  outstretched  right  hand 
towards  me.  The  prophet's  gesture  and  tone  gave  me  to 
understand  that  I  was  to  go  and  keep  my  mouth  shut/ 

"  'One  afternoon,'  said  Mr.  Rushton,  the  steward,  'after 
the  hurry  of  the  dinner  work  was  over,  I  was  sitting  in  my 
little  office,  when,  looking  through  my  window,  I  saw  the 
prophet  Joseph,  followed  by  the  two  Partridge  girls,  com- 
ing from  the  back  part  of  the  lot  and  enter,  all  three,  the 
little  log  cabin,  which  had  been  the  first  home  in  Nau- 
voo  of  the  prophet  before  the  "Mansion"  was  built.  A 
minute  or  so  afterwards  Sister  Emma  came  to  my  office 
door  and  asked  me :  "Did  you  see  Brother  Joseph  and  the 
two  Partridge  girls  go  into  the  cabin?"  Mr.  Rushton 
didn't  like  to  split  on  the  prophet,  and  yet  didn't  like  to  tell 


46  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

a  lie ;  and  at  last  he  replied,  hesitatingly :  'Well— I  think- 
perhaps— well— I  may  have  seen  them.'  Til  just  put  on 
my  sunbonnet  and  go  and  see  what  they  are  about/ 
replied  she,  and  stepped  over.  A  very  short  time  after 
her  entry  she  appeared  at  the  door  of  the  cabin,  being 
pushed  out  rudely,  and  came  to  the  office  door  crying  bit- 
terly. "Oh,  Brother  Rushton,"  she  said  in  broken  sobs, 
"I  went  into  the  cabin,  I  found  those  two  girls  with  my 
husband,  and  Joseph  jumped  up  in  a  rage  when  he  saw 
that  I  had  surprised  them  and  struck  me  a  horrid  blow." 
At  the  same  time  she  showed  me  the  mark  of  the  blow  on 
her  cheek.  She  then  dropped  fainting  on  a  chair,  weep- 
ing and  uttering  words  of  despair.  A  few  minutes  after- 
ward Joseph  entered  and,  going  up  to  Emma,  said  in  a 
meek,  repentant  manner,  'Oh,  my  dear  Emma,  I  am  so 
sorry  I  struck  you.  I  did  it  in  a  passion ;  you  must  forgive 
me.  I  did  it  without  a  thought,  or  I  wouldn't  have  done  it. 
Forgive  me.  But  you  shouldn't  be  running  after  me, 
watching  me  and  prying  at  my  actions/  He  apologized 
and  kissed  Emma  and  apologized  again,  and  then  finally 
she  arose  and  they  went  into  the  parlor  together,  appar- 
ently reconciled/  " 

"Another  characteristic  anecdote  connected  yet  with  the 
Kirtland  times  of  the  'church'  was  related  to  me  by  an  ex- 
elder  of  perfect  reliability.  I  insert  it  here,  because  it 
shows  what  kind  of  a  woman-eater  this  prophet  had  been 
in  early  days  already.  A  large,  influential  'branch  of  the 
church'  existed  in  Philadelphia,  over  which  Ben  Win- 
chester successfully  presided.  Joe  visited  that  church 
occasionally  and  enjoyed  the  associations  much.  On  one 
occasion,  it  having  been  announced  that  the  prophet  was 
to  preach,  he  sat  on  the  platform  by  the  side  of  his  faithful 
presiding  elder  while  awaiting  the  time  to  open  services. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  47 

Now  and  then  as  some  handsome  young  woman  came  up 
the  aisle  and  took  a  seat,  Joe  would  turn  to  Elder  Win- 
chester and  ask,  'Who  is  that  beautiful  lady  ?'  or  'Who  is 
that  fine,  lovely  creature?'  On  being  told  That  is  Miss 
So-and-So,'  or  'Mrs.  So-and-So,'  or  'Sister  So-and-So,' 
he  did  not  at  all  disguise  his  wishes ;  he  made  no  'bones'  of 
it ;  but  would  say  in  reply,  Td  just  like  to  talk  to  her  alone 
for  awhile?'  or  T  would  like  her  for  a  companion  for  a 
night/  and  other  expressions  too  plain  and  vulgar  for  me 
to  write.    [I  can  give  names,  if  needed.] 

"After  the  polygamy  doctrine  was  secretly  whispered 
about  among  the  chosen  few  in  Nauvoo,  there  were  great 
surmisings  on  the  part  of  those  who  desired  to  know  the 
'mysteries  of  the  kingdom.'  Many  impertinent  theories 
were  ventilated  and  false  conclusions  arrived  at.  Joe  had 
formulated  no  plan,  and  did  not,  as  yet,  have  any  rules 
whereby  to  direct  his  intimate  friends,  much  less  the  com- 
mon saints  who  were  not  in  the  ring.  Hence,  having  no 
'law,'  every  man  and  woman  was  a  law  to  himself,  or  her- 
self, and  they  went  on  their  own  course.  In  a  small 
house  in  Nauvoo,  consisting  only  of  two  rooms,  dwelt  two 
men  and  their  wives.  Each  man  and  wife  occupied  one 
room.  These  couples  having  got  some  inkling  of  the  new 
order  of  things,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  might  as 
well  live  up  to  their  privileges.  They  accordingly  ex- 
changed partners,  and  lived  in  this  condition  for  several 
weeks,  when  former  relations  were  resumed.  Such  inci- 
dents, with  variations,  were  by  no  means  uncommon. 
(My  friend  Webb  says  there  was  a  great  deal  of  swapping 
and  exchanging  done  in  Nauvoo  as  to  wives.  Old  Cooks 
sold  his  wife  for  a  load  of  catfish,  and  from  that  time  on 
he  was  always  called  'Catfish  Cooks.)" 

"There  were  in  Nauvoo,  when  Joseph  was  in  his  glory 


48  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

as  'the  greatest  prophet  that  ever  lived,'  a  young  mer- 
chant and  wife  whom  he  dearly  loved.  She  bore  to 
him  several  children,  but  became  fascinated  with  Joe  and 
with  his  claims  to  'exalt'  any  woman  who  would  yield 
to  his  wishes  and  become  his  'wife.'  The  husband  was 
sent  on  a  mission,  and  during  his  absence  Joseph  'gath- 
ered' the  wife  to  his  embraces  and  she  was  'sealed'  one  of 
his  harem.  After  Joe's  'martyrdom'  she  became  the  wife 
of  Brigham,  as  a  proxy  wife  for  Joe,  that  any  posterity 
which  might  ensue  should  be  Joe's  in  heaven.  One  child, 
a  daughter,  was  the  result  of  this  relation,  but  the  young 
lady  was  always  known  by  the  name  of  Young,  never  by 
name  of  Smith,  robbing  Brother  Joseph  of  his  earthly 
glory  at  least.  This  same  wife  of  three  men  is  often  sent 
as  a  representative  of  the  women  of  Utah  to  the  women's 
conventions  abroad  in  America,  and  to  the  lobbies  of  Con- 
gress." 

Here  is  Dr.  John  C.  Bennett's  story  of  Smith's  attempt 
upon  Miss  Nancy  Rigdon : 

"It  was  in  the  summer  of  1841.  Joe  and  Bennett  were 
out  riding  over  the  lawn.  Says  the  prophet  to  his  bosom 
friend :  Tf  you  will  assist  me  in  procuring  Nancy  as  one 
of  my  spiritual  wives,  I  will  give  you  five  hundred  dollars, 
or  the  best  lot  on  Main  street'.  Bennett,  who  was  on 
very  intimate  terms  with  Rigdon  and  his  family,  refused. 
'But,'  said  Joe,  'the  Lord  has  given  her  to  me  to  wife. 
I  have  the  blessings  of  Jacob,  and  there  is  no  wickedness 
in  it.  It  would  be  wickedness  to  approach  her  unless  I 
had  permission  of  the  Lord ;  but  as  it  is,  it  is  as  correct 
as  to  have  a  legal  wife  in  a  moral  point  of  view.'  Joseph 
persisted  in  his  plans,  aided  in  their  execution  by  two 
reliable  friends,  a  Mrs.  Hyde  and  Apostle  Willard  Rich- 
ards.   Dr.  Bennett  tried  in  vain  to  make  Joseph  consider 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  49 

his  obligations  as  a  Master  Mason:  Joseph,  you  are  a 
Master  Mason  and  Nancy  is  a  Master  Mason's  daughter 
(like  Mrs.  Pratt)  ;  so  stay  your  hand,  or  you  will  get  into 

trouble/ 

"Still  Joe  persisted,  but  Bennett  warned  the  daughter 
of  his  friend.    So  Nancy  was  prepared  when  Joseph  took 
her  to  the  little  celestial  business  office.     The  prophet 
locked  the  door,  swore  her  to  secrecy,  and  told  her  that 
she  had  long  been  the  idol  of  his  affections  and  that  he 
had  asked  the  Lord  for  her,  but  that  if  she  had  any  scru- 
ples on  the  subject  he  would  marry  her  immediately;  that 
this  would  not  prevent  her  from  marrying  any  other  per- 
son and  that  all  was  lawful  and  right  before  God.  ("After 
the'  death  of  Joseph,  Brigham  Young  told  me  that  Jo- 
seph's time  on  earth  was  short,  and  that  the  Lord  allowed 
him  privileges  that  we  could  not  have."-Lee,  Confession, 
page  147.)    He  then  attempted  to  kiss  her  and  desired  her 
to  kiss  him.    Nancy  flew  in  a  rage.    She  told  the  prophet 
she  would  alarm  the  neighborhood  if  he  did  not  open  the 
door  and  let  her  out  immediately.    In  a  day  or  two  after- 
wards Apostle  Richards  handed  Nancy  a  letter  from  the 
prophet,  written  by  Richards  from  Joe's  dictation,  and 
requested  her  to  burn  it  after  reading.    This  letter  is  a 
perfect  gem  in  the  line  of  oily  rascal  sophistry: 

-  'Happiness  is  the  object  and  design  of  our  existence 
and  will  be  the  end  thereof,  if  we  pursue  the  path  that 
leads  to  it;  and  this  path  is  virtue,  uprightness,  faithful- 
ness holiness,  and  keeping  all  the  commandments  of  God; 
but  we  cannot  keep  all  the  commandments  without  first 
knowing  them,  and  we  cannot  expect  to  know  all  unless  we 
comply  with  or  keep  those  we  have  already  received  That 
which  is  wrong  under  one  circumstance  may  be  and  often 
is  right  under  another.    God  said,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill   ; 


50  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

at  another  time  He  said,  "Thou  shalt  utterly  destroy." 
This  is  the  principle  on  which  the  Government  of  Heaven 
is  conducted,  by  revelation  adapted  to  the  circumstances 
in  which  the  children  of  the  Kingdom  are  placed.  What- 
ever God  requires  is  right,  no  matter  what  it  is,  although 
we  may  not  see  the  reason  thereof  till  long  after  the 
events  transpire.  If  we  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
all  good  things  will  be  added.  So  with  Solomon :  first  he 
asked  wisdom,  and  God  gave  it  him,  and  with  it  every 
desire  of  his  heart,  even  things  which  might  be  considered 
abominable  to  all  who  understand  the  order  of  Heaven 
only  in  part,  but  which  in  reality  were  right,  because 
God  gave  and  sanctioned  them  by  special  revelation. 
A  parent  may  whip  a  child,  and  justly,  too,  because  he 
stole  an  apple,  whereas,  if  the  child  had  asked  for  the 
apple  and  the  parent  had  given  it,  the  child  would  have 
eaten  it  with  a  better  appetite ;  there  would  have  been  no 
stripes;  all  the  pleasures  of  the  apple  would  have  been 
secured,  all  the  misery  of  stealing  lost.  This  principle 
will  justly  apply  to  all  of  God's  dealings  with  His  children. 
Everything  that  God  gives  us  is  lawful  and  right, 
and  it  is  proper  that  we  shall  enjoy  His  gifts  and  bless- 
ings, whenever  and  wherever  He  is  disposed  to  bestow, 
but  if  we  should  seize  upon  those  same  blessings  and 
enjoyments  without  lav/,  without  revelation,  without  com- 
mandment, those  blessings  and  enjoyments  would  prove 
cursings  and  vexations  in  the  end  and  we  should  have  to 
lie  down  in  sorrow  and  waitings  of  everlasting  regret. 
But  in  obedience  there  is  joy  and  peace  unspotted,  unal- 
loyed ;  and  as  God  has  designed  our  happiness,  He  never 
has,  He  never  will  institute  an  ordinance  or  give  a  com- 
mandment to  His  people  that  is  not  calculated  in  its  nature 
to  promote  the  happiness  which  He  has  designed  and 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  51 

which  will  not  end  in  the  greatest  amount  of  good  and 
glory  to  those  who  become  the  recipients  of  His  laws  and 
ordinances.  Blessings  offered,  but  rejected,  are  no  longer 
blessings,  but  become  like  the  talent  hid  in  the  earth  by 
the  wicked  and  slothful  servant.  Our  Heavenly  Father  is 
more  liberal  in  His  views  and  boundless  in  His  mercies 
and  blessings,  than  we  are  ready  to  believe  or  receive ;  He 
will  be  inquired  of  by  His  children ;  He  says,  "Ask  ye  and 
ye  shall  receive,  seek  ye  and  ye  shall  find ;  but  if  you  will 
take  that  which  is  not  your  own,  or  which  I  have  not 
given  you,  you  shall  be  regarded  according  to  your  deeds ; 
but  no  good  thing  will  I  withhold  from  them  who  walk 
uprightly  before  Me  and  do  My  will  in  all  things,  who 
will  listen  to  My  voice  and  to  the  voice  of  My  servant, 
whom  I  have  sent;  for  I  delight  in  those  who  seek  dili- 
gently to  know  My  precepts  and  abide  in  the  law  of  my 
kingdom  ;  for  all  things  shall  be  made  known  unto  them 
in  Mine  own  due  time  and  in  the  end  they  shall  have  joy."  ' 

"The  sequel  of  the  story  is  well  told  in  a  letter  from 
Ceorge  W.  Robinson,  who  was  a  very  decent  man  accord- 
ing to  Mrs.  Pratt.    Says  he : 

"  'Nancy  repulsed  him  and  left  him  with  disgust.  She 
came  home  and  told  her  father  [Sidney  Rigdon]  of  the 
transaction,  upon  which  Smith  was  sent  for.  He  came. 
She  told  her  tale  in  the  presence  of  all  her  family  and  to 
Smith's  face.  /  was  present.  Smith  attempted  to  deny 
it  at  first  and  face  her  down  with  the  lie ;  but  she  told  the 
facts  with  so  much  earnestness,  and  the  fact  of  a  letter 
being  present,  which  he  had  caused  to  be  written  to  her 
and  which  he  had  fondly  hoped  was  destroyed — all  came 
with  such  force  that  he  could  not  withstand  the  testimony ; 
and  he  then  and  there  acknowledged  that  every  word  of 
Miss  Rigdon's  testimony  was  true.     Now  for  his  excuse 


52  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

which  he  made  for  such  a  base  attempt,  and  for  using  the 
name  of  the  Lord  in  vain  on  that  occasion :  He  wished  to 
ascertain  whether  she  was  virtuous  or  not,  and  took  that 
course  to  learn  the  facts !'  " 

Here,  also,  is  the  testimony  of  Martha  Brotherton,  an 
English  girl: 

"  'St.  Louis,  Mo.,  July  13,  1842. 

"  'I  had  been  in  Nauvoo  near  three  weeks,  during 
which  time  my  father's  family  received  frequent  visits 
from  Apostles  Brigham  Young  and  Heber  C.  Kimball, 
when,  early  one  morning,  they  both  came  to  my  brother- 
in-law's,  where  I  was  on  a  visit,  and  particularly  requested 
me  to  go  and  spend  a  few  days  with  them.  I  told  them  I 
could  not  at  that  time ;  however,  they  urged  me  to  go  the 
next  day  and  spend  one  day  with  them.  The  day  being 
fine,  I  accordingly  went.  When  I  arrived  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  Young  and  Kimball  were  standing  conversing 
together.  They  both  came  to  me  and,  after  several  flatter- 
ing compliments,  Kimball  wished  me  to  go  to  his  house 
first.  I  went.  *  Brigham  went  away  on  some  errand  and 
Kimball  now  turned  to  me  and  said:  'Martha,  I  want 
you  to  say  to  my  wife,  when  you  go  to  my  house,  that  you 
want  to  buy  some  things  at  Joseph's  store,  and  I  will  say 
I  am  going  with  you,  to  show  you  the  way.  You  know 
you  want  to  see  the  prophet  and  you  will  then  have  an 
opportunity/  I  made  no  reply.  I  remained  at  Kimball's 
near  an  hour,  when  Kimball,  seeing  that  I  would  not  tell 
the  lies  he  wished  me  to,  told  them  to  his  wife  himself. 
So  Kimball  and  I  went  to  the  store  together.  As  we  were 
going  along  he  said :  'Sister  Martha,  are  you  willing  to 
do  all  that  the  prophet  requires  you  to  do?'  I  said  I 
believed  I  was,  thinking,  of  course,  he  would  require  noth- 
ing wrong.     "Then,"  said  he,  "are  you  ready  to  take 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  53 

counsel?"     I  answered  yes,  thinking  of  the  great  and 
glorious  blessings  that  had  been  pronounced  upon  my 
head,  if  I  adhered  to  the  counsel  of  those  placed  over  me 
in  the  Lord.     "Well/'  said  he,  "there  are  many  things 
revealed  in  these  last  days  that  the  world  would  laugh  and 
scoff  at,  but  unto  us  is  given  to  know  the  mysteries  of 
the  kingdom."     He  further  observed:     "Martha,  you 
must  learn  to  hold  your  tongue  and  it  will  be  well  with 
you."    When  we  reached  the  building  he  led  me  up  some 
stairs  to  a  small  room,  the  door  of  which  was  locked  and 
on  it  the  inscription,  "Positively  no  admittance."     He 
observed :  "Ah,  Brother  Joseph  must  be  sick,  for,  strange 
to  say,  he  is  not  here.    Come  down  into  the  tithing  office, 
Martha."     He  then  left  me  in  the  tithing  office.     Brig- 
ham  Young  came  in  and  seated  himself  before  me  and 
asked  where  Kimball  was.    Soon  after  Joseph  came  in  and 
then  went  upstairs,  followed  by  Young.     Now  Kimball 
came  in.     "Martha,"  said  he,  "the  prophet  has  come; 
come  upstairs."    I  went  and  we  found  Brigham  and  the 
prophet  alone.    I  was  introduced  to  the  prophet  by  Brig- 
ham.     Joseph  offered  me  his  seat  and,  to  my  astonish- 
ment,  the   moment   I   was   seated  Joseph   and   Kimball 
walked  out  of  the  room  and  left  me  with  Brigham,  who 
arose,  locked  the  door,  closed  the  window,  and  drew  the 
curtains.    He  then  sat  before  me  and  said :    "This  is  our 
private  room,  Martha."    "Indeed,  sir,"  said  I,  "I  must 
be  highly  honored  to  be  permitted  to  enter  it."    He  smiled 
and  then  proceeded : :    "Sister  Martha,  I  want  to  ask  you 
a  few  questions-— will  you  answer  them?"     "Yes,  sir," 
said  I.     "And  will  you  promise  not  to  mention  them  to^ 
anyone?"    "If  it  is  your  desire,  sir,"  said  I,  "I  will  not." 
"And  you  will  not  think  any  the  worse  of  me  for  it,  will 
you,  Martha?"  said  he.     "No,"  I  replied.     "Well,"  said 


54  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

he,  "what  are  your  feelings  towards  me?"  "I  replied: 
"My  feelings  are  just  the  same  towards  you  that  they  ever 
were,  sir."  "But  to  come  to  the  point  more  closely,"  said 
he,  "have  you  not  an  affection  for  me  that,  were  it  lawful 
and  right,  you  could  accept  of  me  for  your  husband  and 
companion?"  My  feelings  at  that  moment  were  inde- 
scribable. What,  thought  I,  are  these  men  that  I  thought 
almost  perfection  itself — deceivers?  I  considered  it  best 
to  ask  for  time  to  think  and  pray  about  it.  I  therefore 
said :  "If  it  was  lawful  and  right,  perhaps  I  might ;  but 
you  know,  sir,  it  is  not."  "Well,  but,"  said  he,  "Brother 
Joseph  has  had  a  revelation  from  God  that  it  is  lawful 
and  right  for  a  man  to  have  two  wives;  for  as  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Abraham,  so  it  shall  be  in  these  last  days, 
and  whoever  is  the  first  that  is  willing  to  take  up  the 
cross  will  receive  the  greatest  blessings ;  and  if  you  will 
accept  of  me,  /  will  take  you  straight  to  the  celestial  king- 
dom, and  if  you  will  have  me  in  this  world,  I  will  have 
you  in  that  which  is  to  come,  and  Brother  Joseph  will 
marry  us  here  today,  or  you  can  go  home  this  evening  and 
your  parents  will  not  know  anything  about  it."  "Sir," 
said  I,  "I  should  not  like  to  do  anything  of  the  kind  with- 
out the  permission  of  my  parents."  "Well,  but,"  said  he, 
"you  are  of  age,  are  you  not?"  "No,  sir,"  said  I,  "I  shall 
not  be  until  the  24th  of  May."  "Well,"  said  he,  "that  does 
not  make  any  difference.  You  will  be  of  age  before  they 
know  and  you  need  not  fear.  If  you  will  take  my  counsel 
it  will  be  well  with  you,  and  if  there  is  any  sin  in  it,  /  will 
answer  for  it.  But  Brother  Joseph  will  explain  things — 
will  you  hear  him?"  "I  do  not  mind,"  said  I.  "Well,  but 
I  want  you  to  say  something,"  said  he.  "I  want  time  to 
think  about  it,"  said  I.  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  will  have  a 
kiss,  anyhow."  He  arose  and  said  he  would  bring  Joseph. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  55 

He  then  unlocked  the  door  and  took  the  key  and  locked 
me  up  alone.  He  was  absent  about  ten  minutes  and  then 
returned  with  Joseph.  "Well,"  said  Brigham,  "Sister 
Martha  would  be  willing  if  she  knew  that  it  was  lawful 
and  right  before  God."  "Well,  Martha,"  said  Joseph,  "it 
is  lawful  and  right  before  God — I  know  it  is.  Look  here, 
Sis;  don't  you  believe  me?"  I  did  not  answer.  "Well, 
Martha,"  said  Joseph,  "just  go  ahead  and  do  as  Brigham 
wants  you  to — he  is  the  best  man  in  the  world,  except  me." 
"Well,"  said  Brigham,  "we  believe  Joseph  to  be  a  prophet. 
I  have  known  him  for  eight  years,  and  always  found  him 
the  same."  "Yes,"  said  Joseph,  "I  know  that  this  is  law- 
ful and  right  before  God,  and  if  there  is  any  sin  in  it,  I 
will  answer  for  it  before  god  ;  and  I  have  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  and  whatever  I  bind  on  earth  is  bound  in 
Heaven,  and  whatever  I  loose  on  earth  is  loosed  in 
Heaven;  and  if  you  will  accept  of  Brigham,  you  shall  be 
blessed;  God  shall  bless  you  and  my  blessing  shall  rest 
upon  you ;  and  if  you  will  be  led  by  him,  you  will  do  well ; 
for  I  know  Brigham  will  take  care  of  you,  and  if  he  don't 
do  his  duty  to  you,  come  to  me  and  I  will  make  him ;  and 
if  you  do  not  like  it  in  a  month  or  two>  come  to  me  and 
/  will  make  you  free  again,  and  if  he  turns  you  off,  I  will 
take  you  on."  "Sir,"  said  I,  rather  warmly,  "it  will  be 
too  late  to  think  in  a  month  or  two  after.  I  want  time  to 
think  first."  "Well,  but,"  said  he,  "'the  old  proverb  is : 
'Nothing  ventured,  nothing  gained' — and  it  would  be  the 
greatest  blessing  ever  bestowed  on  you.  What  are  you 
afraid  of,  Sis  ?  Come,  let  me  do  the  business  for  you." 
"Well,"  said  I,  "the  best  way  I  know  of,  is  to  go  home  and 
think  and  pray  about  it."  Brigham  said  :  "I  shall  leave  it 
with  Brother  Joseph,  whether  it  would  be  best  for  you  to 
have  time  or  not."    Joseph :    "I  see  no  harm  in  her  hav- 


56  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ing  time  to  think,  if  she  will  not  fall  into  temptation." 
"Oh,  sir,"  said  I,  "there  is  no  fear  of  my  falling  into  temp- 
tation." "Well,  but,"  said  Brigham,  "you  must  promise 
me  you  will  never  mention  it  to  anyone."  I  promised. 
Joseph  said:  "You  must  promise  me  the  same."  I  did. 
"Upon  your  honor,"  said  he,  "you  will  not  tell  ?"  "No, 
sir,"  said  I,  "I  will  lose  my  life  first."  "Well,  that  will 
do,"  said  he ;  "that  is  the  principle  we  go  upon.  I  think  I 
can  trust  you,  Martha."  I  then  rose  to  go,  when  Joseph 
commenced  to  beg  of  me  again.  He  said  it  was  the  best 
opportunity  they  might  have  for  months,  for  the  room 
was  often  engaged.  I,  however,"  had  determined  what 
to  do.  The  next  day  I  sat  down  and  wrote  the  conversa- 
tion. We  went  to  meeting.  Brigham  administered  the 
sacrament.  After  it  was  over,  Young  followed  me  out 
and  whispered :  "Have  you  made  up  your  mind,  Mar- 
tha?"   "Not  exactly,  sir,"  said  I,  and  we  parted.'  " 

William  Law,  one  of  the  most  talented  of  Smith's  dis- 
ciples and  his  chief  counselor,  admits  that  he  "went  astray 
in  affairs  of  love,"  and  says : 

"I  think  Joseph's  sons  knew  that  their  father  taught  and 
practiced  the  'spiritual  wife'  doctrine.  Their  mother  knew 
all  about  it,  and,  I  believe,  opposed  it  at  first.  But  her 
antagonism  or  the  opposition  of  others  availed  nothing. 
I  begged  of  Joseph  and  pleaded  with  him  as  a  man  might 
plead  for  the  life  of  his  best  friend,  to  stop  all  these  evils, 
and  save  the  church  from  ruin ;  but  he  seemed  determined 
to  rush  on  to  utter  destruction,  and  carry  all  with  him  that 
he  could ;  and  thus  he  met  his  doom." 

Carrying  out  his  spiritual  wife  doctrine,  he  attempted 
to  take  the  wife  of  William  Law  himself.  He  had'  taken 
the  wives  of  a  good  many  other  men,  but  they  had  not 
objected.    But,  strange  to  say,  William  Law  did  object. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  57 

He  was  also  guilty  of  the  most  despotic  practices. 

"By  means  of  his  common  council,  without  the  author- 
ity of  law,  he  established  a  recorder's  office  in  Nauvoo,  in 
which  alone  the  titles  of  property  could  be  recorded.  In 
the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  want  of  legal  author- 
ity, he  established  an  office  for  issuing  marriage  licenses 
to  the  Mormons,  so  as  to  give  him  absolute  control  of  the 
marrying  propensities  of  his  people.  He  proclaimed  that 
none  in  the  city  should  purchase  real  estate  to  sell  again, 
but  himself.  He  also  permitted  no  one  but  himself  to  have 
a  license  in  the  city  for  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors ;  and 
in  many  other  ways  he  undertook  to  regulate  and  control 
the  business  of  the  Mormons.  This  despotism,  adminis- 
tered by  a  corrupt  and  unprincipled  man,  soon  became 
intolerable." 

William  Law  and  several  other  Mormon  leaders  re- 
belled. They  started  a  paper  called  the  Nauvoo  Expositor 
for  the  purpose  of  exposing  Smith  and  his  methods.  But 
only  one  issue  of  the  paper  was  published.  Before  another 
could  appear  the  press  was  demolished  by  order  of  the 
Common  Council,  and  Mr.  Law  and  his  fellow  rebels  were 
expelled  from  the  Mormon  Church.  They  hastened  to 
Carthage,  near  by,  and  had  writs  issued  for  the  arrest  of 
the  Mayor  of  Nauvoo,  Joseph  Smith,  and  others  engaged 
in  the  destruction  of  the  Expositor.  The  Municipal  Court 
of  Nauvoo  set  aside  the  writs  and  discharged  the  pris- 
oners. 

The  Governor  was  appealed  to.  He  responded  in  per- 
son, examined  the  situation,  was  convinced,  he  says,  that 
the  "Mormon  leaders  had  committed  a  crime  in  the 
destruction  of  the  press  and  had  resisted  the  execution  of 
process."  He  "determined  to  exert  the  whole  force  of 
the  State,  if  necessary,  to  bring  them  to  justice." 


58  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Smith  had  declared  martial  law  in  Nauvoo,  and  had 
called  on  all  Mormons  for  help.  Governor  Ford  appealed 
to  him  to  quietly  surrender,  promising  protection.  Instead 
he  resolved  to  flee,  and  crossed  the  river  to  Montrose. 
But  in  response  to  the  protests  of  his  wife  against  such  a 
course,  he,  together  with  his  brother  Hyrum  and  all  the 
members  of  the  council,  went  to  Carthage  and  surren- 
dered. All  were  released  except  Joseph  and  Hyrum 
Smith,  who  were  charged  with  treason,  and  were  put  in 
jail.  During  the  night  an  armed  mob  broke  into  the  jail 
and  fired  a  volley  through  the  door,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  Hyrum  Smith.  Joseph  had  a  revolver  and  de- 
fended himself,  but,  overpowered  by  numbers,  attempted 
to  escape  through  the  window.  The  mob  on  the  outside 
fired  upon  him  and  he  fell  to  the  ground.  Another  volley 
was  fired  at  him  and  he  was  left  in  the  jail  yard  dead. 

Thus  ended  the  career  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  the  founder 
of  Mormonism  and  its  chief  prophet.  Review  that  career 
briefly.  As  a  boy  he  was  ignorant,  superstitious,  a 
dreamer  of  dreams.  Pretending  to  have  discovered  s 
new  Bible  by  direction  of  an  angel — which  Bible  we  now 
know  was  written  as  a  romance  by  Solomon  Spaulding 
and  emended  by  Sidney  Rigdon — he  founded  a  new  re- 
ligion. He  was  compelled  to  flee  from  Kirtland,  Ohio, 
"between  two  days"  for  his  connection  as  cashier  with  a 
fraudulent  bank.  He  was  driven  from  Missouri  because 
of  his  arrogant  and  tyrannical  ways.  He  was  finally  killed 
in  Illinois  for  taking  another  man's  wife  and  suppressing 
freedom  of  speech.  He  was  simply  an  illiterate,  preten- 
tious, ambitious,  licentious  fellow,  clever  and  jolly,  with 
a  certain  animal  magnetism,  but  coarse,  self-willed,  ruling 
his  followers,  most  of  them  quite  ignorant,  through  his 
pretended  revelations  from  the  Lord,  overbearing,  des- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  59 

potic  in  the  extreme,  with  whom  no  one  could  get  along 
except  by  absolute  submission  to  him.  He  had  trouble 
everywhere  he  went  and  with  almost  everyone  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  And  this  is  the  man  the  Mormons 
now  worship  as  their  prophet — putting  him  on  an  equality 
with  Mohammed  among  the  Mohammedans  or  Christ 
among  Christians  !    God  save  the  mark ! 

I  may  remark  in  passing  that  a  singular  fatality  at- 
tended nearly  all  of  the  principal  actors  in  the  earliest 
scenes  of  the  drama  of  Mormonism.  The  six  who  were  in 
the  organization  of  the  church  and  who  claimed  to  have 
been  witnesses  of  the  golden  plates  were  Joseph  Smith, 
Oliver  Cowdery,  Hyrum  Smith,  Peter  Whitmer,  Jr., 
Samuel  H.  Smith  and  David  Whitmer.  Of  these  Oliver 
Cowdery,  the  scribe  who  wrote  most  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon at  the  dictation  of  Smith,  was  charged  with  being 
"connected  with  a  gang  of  counterfeiters,  thieves,  liars 
and  blacklegs  of  the  deepest  dye,"  and  with  "cheating  and 
defrauding  the  saints,"  and  he  was  ex-communicated  and 
"turned  over  to  the  bufferings  of  the  devil."  He  after- 
ward died  a  miserable  drunkard.  David  Whitmer  was 
also  ex-communicated  as  a  rebel.  Joseph  and  Hyrum 
Smith  were  killed  by  a  mob  on  account  of  their  immoral- 
ity, their  despotism  and  their  "treason"  against  the  State. 
Martin  Harris,  the  first  scribe  of  the  Book  of  Mormons, 
and  a  witness  to  the  plates,  but  not  one  of  the  constituent 
members  of  the  church,  was  afterward  catalogued  by  the 
Mormons  with  "negroes  who  wear  white  skins,  and  he 
and  his  associates  are  so  far  beneath  contempt  that  a 
notice  of  them  would  be  far  too  great  a  sacrifice  for  a 
gentleman  to  make."  He  also  was  consigned  to  the  infer- 
nal regions.  A  document  drafted  by  Sidney  Rigdon, 
and  subscribed  by  eighty-four  Mormons,  addressed  to 


60  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Oliver  Cowdery,  David  Whitmer,  John  Whitmer,  W.  W. 
Phelps  and  Lyman  E.  Johnson,  exhibits  these  witnesses 
and  apostles  and  their  associates  to  have  been  unmitigated 
scamps. 

Mr.  Stenhouse  says : 

"The  Lord  could  not  well  have  chosen  a  more  despica- 
ble set  of  thieves  and  liars  than  they  were — taking  the 
testimony  of  their  brethren  as  evidence.  Mormonism  did 
little  for  them  in  the  way  of  reformation  and  grace.  They 
must  have  been  'a  hard  lot'  before  they  accepted  the  new 
revelation." 

Sidney  Rigdon  was,  after  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith, 
charged  with  the  determination  to  "rule  or  ruin  the 
church."  And  in  the  language  of  the  reporter,  "Elder 
Young  arose  and  delivered  Sidney  Rigdon  over  to  the 
bufferings  of  Satan  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  and  all  the 
people  said,  Amen."  Parley  P.  Pratt,  another  very  prom- 
inent Mormon  and  the  author  of  some  of  their  principal 
works,  was  killed  by  an  enraged  husband  for  running  off 
with  his  wife. 

And  these  are  the  men  who  were  the  founders  of  Mor- 
monism ! 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ITS  HISTORY— SPLIT  INTO  FACTIONS— BRIG- 
HAM  YOUNG— MOVING  WESTWARD- 
GREAT  SALT  LAKE  BASIN— "IRREPRES- 
SIBLE CONFLICT' —MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS 
MASSACRE. 

In  the  last  chapter  I  gave  an  account  of  the  killing  of 
Joseph  Smith.  I  do  not  approve  of  that  killing.  There 
was  very  great  provocation  leading  up  to  it.  And  yet  it 
was  a  crime.  But  it  was  more  than  a  crime.  It  was  a 
blunder.  At  that  time  Mormonism  was  practically  dead. 
The  Mormons  themselves  were  fast  becoming  disgusted 
with  the  tyrannical  rule  and  licentious  practices  of  Joseph 
Smith.  They  were  beginning  to  see  the  hollowness  in 
the  Mormon  system,  and  were  falling  away  from  it.  But 
the  saying  that  "The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of 
the  church"  was  again  exemplified.  The  killing  of  Smith 
put  him  in  the  list  of  martyrs,  according  to  Mormon 
notions,  and  had  the  effect  of  galvanizing  Mormonism 
again  into  life. 

I  have  dwelt  somewhat  at  length  upon  the  early  history 
of  Mormonism,  partly  because  the  beginnings  of  any 
movement  are  of  the  greatest  interest,  and  largely  to  show 
the  character  of  Joseph  Smith,  its  founder  and  prophet. 
The  rest  of  the  history  can  be  more  briefly  told. 

After  the  death  of  Smith,  on  June  27,  1844,  the  church 
split  up  into  many  factions.  It  is  said  that  twenty-one 
sects  sprang  into  existence.  Among  these  were  the 
"Adamsites,"    "Brewsterites,"    "Brighamites,"    "Cutler- 

61 


62  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ites,"  "Doveites,"  "Emmettites,"  "Forsgreenites,"  "Glad- 
denites,"  "Godbeites,"  "Hedrickites,"  "Hendrickites," 
"Josephites,"  "Morrisites,"  "Rigdonites,"  "Bill  Smith- 
ites,"  "Strangites,"  "Whitmerites,"  "Wightites,"  "Wil- 
liamites,"  etc. 

Some  of  these  are  now  extinct,  but  others  are  still  in 
existence.  The  Josephites  have  as  their  head  Joseph 
Smith,  the  eldest  son  of  the  "prophet."  This  faction  was 
organized  in  i860  under  the  name  of  the  "Reorganized 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints."  It  now 
numbers  about  45,000,  with  headquarters  at  Lamoni, 
Iowa.  The  Josephites  violently  dissent  from  the  Brig- 
hamites  on  some  important  points,  especially  as  regards 
temple  building,  the  character  of  God  and  polygamy.  But 
it  is  with  the  latter  sect  that  we  have  especially  to  do. 
These  are  by  far  the  most  numerous  and  most  influential 
of  any  of  the  Mormon  sects,  and  are  known  to  all  the 
world  pre-eminently  as  Mormons. 

Upon  the  death  of  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon  naturally 
felt  that  the  right  of  succession  belonged  to  him.  He  had 
taken  offense  at  Smith  for  seeking  the  hand  of  his  daugh- 
ter Nancy  as  a  polygamous  wife  and  was  living  in  Pitts- 
burg, Ohio.  He  hastened  to  Nauvoo,  assumed  the  leader- 
ship, pretended  to  have  visions  and  revelations,  as  Smith 
had  done. 

But  Brigham  Young  was  by  the  accident  of  seniority 
at  the  head  of  the  quorum  of  twelve  apostles,  and  he  had 
ambitions  of  his  own.  So  he  had  Rigdon  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  determining  to  "rule  or  ruin  the  church."  He 
was  tried,  condemned,  "cut  off  from  the  church  and  deliv- 
ered over  to  the  buffetings  of  Satan." 

Having  thus  disposed  of  his  rival,  Brigham  Young  then 
proceeded  to  "rule"  the  church— and  he  ruled  it  with  a 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  63 

rod  of  iron.  Implicit,  unquestioning  obedience  was 
thenceforth  the  distinctive  feature  of  Mormonism.  Joseph 
Smith  once  said  that  if  Brother  Brigham  ever  got  control 
of  the  church  he  would  lead  it  to  hell.  This  was  about 
the  only  prediction  of  Smith  that  ever  came  true. 

The  friction  between  the  Mormons  and  the  people  of 
Illinois  still  continuing  and  constantly  increasing  in  bitter- 
ness, it  was  determined  by  the  High  Council  at  Nauvoo 
on  January  20,  1846,  that  the  Mormons  should  leave  a 
country  where  they  had  suffered  so  much  "persecution" 
and  go  away  out  West,  beyond  the  confines  of  the  United 
States,  where  they  would  not  be  bothered  by  the  trouble- 
some laws,  and  the  still  more  troublesome  military  power, 
of  this  government,  but  where  they  might  be  free  to  wor- 
ship Joseph  Smith  according  to  the  dictates  of  Brigham 
Young,  and  to  make  everybody  else  do  the  same. 

Before  they  left  indictments  were  found  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  against  a  number  of  leading  Mor- 
mons for  counterfeiting  the  coin  of  the  republic.  The 
marshal  was  eager  for  their  arrest,  but  the  Governor 
thought  it  best  to  let  them  go,  as  that  would  be  the  easiest 
way  to  get  rid  of  them.  So  on  February  5,  1846,  they 
began  to  move  westward.  By  the  middle  of  May  about 
16,000  had  gone.  There  were  no  railroads  out  West  in 
those  days.  The  journey  was  long  and  tedious.  The 
weather  was  bad,  and  some  of  the  "saints"  suffered  con- 
siderably. 

On  July  24,  1847,  they  reached  Great  Salt  Lake  Basin, 
and  as  they  beheld  it  they  exclaimed,  'The  Land  of 
Promise."  It  has  really  a  considerable  resemblance  to 
the  Promised  Land.  Utah  Lake  corresponds  to  the  Sea 
of  Galilee.  Salt  Lake  corresponds  to  the  Dead  Sea.  The 
River  Jordan  connects  the  two.     And  Salt  Lake  City  is 


64  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  modern  Sodom.  They  at  once  settled  where  Salt 
Lake  City  is  now  located,  and  proceeded  to  build  a  temple 
to  the  Lord  and  houses  for  themselves. 

When  they  arrived  at  Salt  Lake  Valley  the  Territory 
of  Utah  belonged  to  Mexico.  It  is  thought  that  it  was 
Brigham  Young's  intention  either  to  set  up  an  independ- 
ent government  in  Utah  or  yield  only  a  nominal  obedience 
to  Mexico.  But  as  a  result  of  the  Mexican  war,  Utah, 
with  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  was  made  a  part 
of  the  United  States. 

And  thus  the  Mormons  found  themselves  again  sub- 
jects of  this  government,  much  to  their  chagrin.  Not- 
withstanding this  fact,  at  a  convention  of  citizens  held  in 
Great  Salt  Lake  City,  March  5,  1849,  it  was  decided  to 
establish  "a  free  and  independent  government  by  the  name 
of  the  State  of  Deseret."  Congress,  however,  completely 
ignored  the  "State  of  Deseret,"  and  on  September  9,  1850, 
organized  Utah  into  a  territory  and,  strange  to  say,  ap- 
pointed Brigham  Young  Governor ! 

But  almost  immediately  there  was  a  clash  between  the 
Governor  and  the  Gentile  Federal  officers  and  judges  sent 
out  to  help  govern  the  territory.  This  was  due  to  what 
has  been  aptly  termed  "the  irrepressible  conflict  between 
theocracy  and  republicanism." 

The  conflict  grew  in  intensity.  Brigham  Young  gener- 
ally got  the  best  of  it  one  way  or  another,  outwitting 
some,  intimidating  others.  In  addition  to  their  theocratic 
government,  which  made  them  unwilling  to  submit  to  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  the  open  avowal  of  polygamy 
at  this  time  added  greatly  to  the  hatred  and  disgust  with 
which  the  Mormons  were  regarded. 

The  doctrine  of  polygamy  had  first  been  promulgated 
by  Joseph  Smith,  but  at  first  it  was  taught  secretly.     Its 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  65 

open  avowal  now  by  Brigham  Young,  at  a  time  when  he 
felt  strong  enough  to  resist  opposition,  sent  a  thrill  of 
horror  throughout  the  country. 

Polyandry— the  marriage,  at  least  temporary,  of  a 
woman  to  more  than  one  man— was  taught.  The  doctrine 
of  the  blood  atonement— the  murder  of  the  body  to  save 
the  soul — was  proclaimed. 

Congress  spoke  of  the  "moral  and  political  pestilence 
which  makes  Utah  the  scandal  of  the  American  people." 
The  plague  spot  did  not  heal.  It  got  bigger  and  bigger. 
Brigham  Young  was  removed  as  Governor  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah.  But  others— governors,  judges  of  the 
United  States  court— found  successively  that  they  had  a 
new  and  dangerous  foe  with  whom  to  contend,  crafty, 
determined,  hesitating  at  nothing,  lying,  cheating,  steal- 
ing, murdering  to  carry  their  point.  Murder  after  murder 
was  committed.  If  any  one  made  himself  obnoxious  to 
the  Mormons  in  any  way  he  was  apt  to  be  found  dead, 
and  no  amount  of  investigation  (?)  would  reveal  the 
perpetrators  of  the  deed. 

Meanwhile  the  colony  was  growing.  Missionaries  were 
sent  to  Europe.  They  were  successful  in  making  a  num- 
ber of  converts.  These,  for  the  most  part,  were  persuaded 
to  emigrate  to  the  promised  land. 

As  this  was  before  the  days  of  railroads,  Brigham 
Young  organized  what  were  called  hand-cart  expeditions 
for  these  emigrants.  Placing  their  household  effects, 
together  with  the  children  and  feeble  persons,  in  hand- 
carts, they  would  pull  the  carts  over  the  plains  and  across 
the  mountains.  But  the  journey  proved  too  long  and  the 
labor  too  great.  Food  gave  out,  the  weather  was  bad 
and  large  numbers  of  them  perished  on  the  way.  Brigham 
Young  at  first  took  a  good  deal  of  pride  in  his  hand-cart 


66  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

plan.  But  finding  how  it  turned  out,  he  put  the  blame  on 
the  Apostle  Richards,  and  publicly  in  the  tabernacle  held 
him  up  to  ridicule  and  scorn. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1849  caused  a 
rush  from  the  East  to  the  West,  which  continued  for  some 
years.  Parties  of  emigrants  would  be  formed.  One  of 
these  parties  was  from  Arkansas,  around  Fort  Smith. 
It  was  composed  of  a  fine  class  of  people,  cultivated  and 
refined,  with  some  wealth  among  them.  They  numbered 
137.  They  were  friends  and  neighbors  who  had  decided 
to  move  to  California  to  better  their  fortunes. 

This  was  in  1857.  A  short  while  before,  the  "Apostle" 
Parley  P.  Pratt  had  been  killed  near  Fort  Smith  by  Mr. 
McLean,  because  Pratt  had  run  off  with  McLean's  wife — 
a  strange  thing  certainly  for  McLean  to  do,  to  kill  a  man 
for  running  off  with  his  wife.  Why  should  he  want  to 
kill  a  man  for  a  little  thing  like  that?  The  Mormons 
seemed  to  think  that,  as  this  party  of  Arkansas  people  was 
about  to  pass  through  their  territory,  now  was  their  oppor- 
tunity for  vengeance.  When  the  Arkansas  people  reached 
Utah  they  were  not  allowed  to  buy  food  at  any  Mormon 
settlement.  But  they  kept  on.  Arriving  at  Parowan, 
the  Mormon  military  post,  they  were  not  permitted  to 
pass  through,  but  were  compelled  to  go  around  it. 

When  they  arrived  at  Mountain  Meadows  they  were 
suddenly  attacked  by  Indians,  as  they  supposed.  Some 
Indians  were  in  the  attacking  party,  but  the  Indians  them- 
selves afterward  stated  that  the  Mormon  soldiers  were 
also  dressed  as  Indians.  The  emigrants  had  not  expected 
an  attack,  but  they  prepared  for  defense.  Corraling  their 
wagons,  they  formed  a  temporary  fort,  and  with  their 
long-range  guns  they  kept  the  Indians  (?)  at  bay.  And 
thus  they  fought  for  three  days.    But  their  water  supply 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  67 

gave  out.  There  was  a  spring  near  by,  but  covered  by 
the  rifles  of  the  enemy.  Dying  with  thirst,  they  dressed 
two  little  girls  in  white  and  started  them  with  a  bucket  to 
the  spring.     They  were  shot  down. 

The  next  day  Major  John  D.  Lee,  in  command  of  the 
Mormon  troops,  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  emigrants, 
with  the  statement  that  the  Indians  were  very  mad,  but 
that  if  they  would  lay  down  their  arms  he  would  protect 
them.  They  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  rejoiced  to  have 
found  white  friends  ( ?),  laid  down  their  arms  and  surren- 
dered. The  women  and  children  were  separated  from  the 
men  and  inarched  off,  the  men  just  behind  them,  all 
guarded  by  the  entire  command,  with  Major  Lee  at  their 
head.  When  they  had  gone  about  half  a  mile  the  com- 
mand was  given  to  fire.  There  was  a  volley,  another  and 
another,  until  all  the  men  lay  dead  or  dying  on  the  ground, 
except  three,  who  fled,  but  were  pursued  and  killed.  The 
women  also  were  all  dead.  One  young  woman  sprang  to 
Major  Lee  for  protection.  He  put  a  pistol  to  her  forehead 
and  shot  her  dead.  Another  ran  to  him  and  suffered  a 
worse  fate  at  his  hands.  The  whole  company,  men  and 
women,  were  stripped  of  their  clothing  and  left  Tying 
naked  on  the  ground.  This  was  done  with  many  a  ribald 
jest.  The  little  children  were  spared,  seventeen  in  all. 
These  were  taken  to  Salt  Lake  City  and  distributed  among 
the  Mormon  families. 

Two  of  the  children  were  heard  to  make  some  remark 
about  their  families  and  they  were  taken  out — and  buried. 
The  others  were  afterward  taken  by  the  government  and 
placed  in  an  orphan  asylum  in  St.  Louis. 

Much  of  the  property  of  the  murdered  emigrants  was 
sold  at  public  auction,  under  the  designation  of  "Property 
taken  at  the  siege  of  Sebastopol,"  and  there  is  said  to  be 


68  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

legal  proof  that  the  clothing  stripped  from  the  corpses- 
spotted  with  blood  and  flesh  and  shredded  by  bullets — 
was  placed  in  the  cellar  of  the  tithing  office  and  privately 
sold.  "Wives  and  daughters  of  some  of  those  murderers 
wore  the  apparel  of  some  of  the  massacred  women  and 
maidens,  while  their  polygamous  husbands  and  fathers 
wore  the  masculine  garments  of  their  victims,  plowed  the 
fields  with  their  cattle,  and  drove  to  their  religious  assem- 
blies with  the  horses  that  they  had  stolen  from  the  Arkan- 
sas train,  and  no  one  called  them  to  account" 

And  this  was  the  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  Mountain 
Meadows  massacre,  the  most  horrible,  the  most  diabolical 
in  the  history  of  so-called  Christian  nations' — only  equaled, 
but  not  surpassed  in  cruelty  and  bloodthirstiness,  by  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

And  this  was  Mormonism  in  all  its  hideous  nakedness ! 
What  Mormons  did  then,  Mormons  would  do  again  if 
they  only  had  the  power  and  the  opportunity.  Their  prin- 
ciples are  the  same.  And  these  are  the  people  who  com- 
plain of  persecution,  if  they  are  not  allowd  to  enter  our 
pulpits  and  our  homes !  No  wonder  the  massacre  sent  a 
thrill  of  horror  throughout  America.  It  was  a  revelation, 
an  unmasking  of  the  Mormon  character  for  which  the 
people  of  this  country  were  hardly  prepared.  Efforts 
were  made  to  bring  the  offenders  to  justice.  But,  with  the 
usual  craftiness  and  deception  of  the  Mormons,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  thwarting  these  efforts  for  quite  a  while,  and 
it  was  not  until  twenty  years  afterward  that  Major  Lee 
was  executed  for  his  part  in  the  terrible  affair.  But  the 
real  criminal — the  one  who  was  morally  if  not  directly 
responsible  for  the  massacre,  whose  influence  encouraged 
it,  if  his  brain  did  not  plan  and  his  tongue  order  it — was 
not  touched.    His  name  was  Brigham  Young. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
ITS  HISTORY— BRIGHAM  YOUNG— REBELLION 
ALBERT  SIDNEY  JOHNSTON— JUDGE  CRA- 
DLEBAUGH— APOSTASY— JOHN  TAYLOR— 
WILFORD  WOODRUFF— LORENZO  SNOW. 

I  closed  the  last  chapter  by  saying  that  the  name  of  the 
instigator  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre  was  Brig- 
ham  Young.  This,  I  know,  is  a  very  severe  charge  to 
bring  against  the  former  head  of  the  Mormon  Church  (  ?) 
and  the  one  who,  more  than  anyone  else — more  even  than 
Joseph  Smith  himself— gave  shape  to  its  policy  and  char- 
acter. But  the  charge  is,  I  think,  fully  sustained  by  the 
following  facts,  among  many  others : 

i.  Anyone  who  has  studied  Mormonism  and  who  knows, 
its  complete  organization,  its  absolute  despotism,  knows 
that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  such  a  massacre 
to  take  place  in  Mormon  territory  and  committed  by  Mor- 
mons, as  proven  beyond  question,  without  the  consent — 
nay,  without  the  command,  written  or  verbal — of  Brigham 
Young.    His  word  was  law  in  church  and  state. 

2.  Had  such  a  massacre  been  committed  without  his 
consent,  presuming  it  to  have  been  possible,  he  could  and 
would  easily  have  discovered  the  perpetrators  of  it.  On 
the  contrary,  he  made  no  effort  to  do  so,  but  rather  threw 
all  obstacles  in  the  way  of  those  who  were  trying  to  dis- 
cover them,  and  finally  only  surrendered  Major  Lee  to 
save  himself. 

3.  Two  years  after  the  massacre  a  United  States  officer 
passed  through  the  Mountain  Meadows,  gathered  the 
bones  of  the  murdered  emigrants  together  and  erected 

69 


70  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

over  them  a  large  pile  of  stones,  upon  one  of  which  he 
had  engraved :  "Here  lie  the  bones  of  120  men,  women 
and  children  from  Arkansas,  murdered  on  the  10th  day 
of  September,  1857."  Upon  a  cross  tree  he  caused  to  be 
painted :  "Vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will 
repay  it."  This  monument  is  said  to  have  been  destroyed 
the  first  time  that  Brigham  Young  visited  the  place.  It 
is  reported  by  one  who  stood  by  his  side  as  he  read  the 
inscription  that  he  remarked  with  a  firm  voice  to  those 
around  him  that  the  inscription  should  read  :  "Vengeance 
is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  have  repaid." 

Daniel  Page  reports  Brigham  Young  as  saying :  "Ven- 
geance is  mine.  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord — and  here  I 
am  and  I  ham  repaid  a  little."  At  this  time  Brigham 
Young  was  claiming  that  he  was  God. 

4.  As  I  stated,  Major  John  D.  Lee,  the  officer  in  charge 
of  the  Mormon  forces  at  the  time  of  the  massacre,  was 
executed  in  1877,  twenty  years  afterward.  He  was  a  son 
by  adoption  of  Brigham  Young.  Lee  pleaded  innocence 
in  court,  but  while  in  prison  awaiting  his  execution  made 
a  full  confession  of  the  whole  affair.*  He  gave  the  names 
of  forty  odd  Mormons  who  took  part  in  the  massacre,  and 
said  that  Brigham  Young  was  instigator  of  the  whole 
proceeding.  Lee  was  shot  by  five  United  States  soldiers, 
and  while  seated  on  his  coffin,  just  a  moment  before  his 
execution,  he  still  said  that  in  killing  the  emigrants  he  was 
only  acting  under  the  orders  of  Brigham  Young.  Five 
true  bills  were  secured  against  Young,  but  as  his  death 
occurred  soon  after,  he  was  never  brought  to  trial,  a  most 
fortunate  thing  for  the  Mormons. 

5.  This  massacre  was  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the 
whole   course  of  Mormonism   under   Brigham   Young. 
Crime  was  common.    Murder  after  murder  was  commit- 
tee Appendix  B. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  71 

ted,  the  perpetrators  of  which  were  never  discovered,  or 
at  least  never  brought  to  justice.  There  were  continual 
conflicts  with  the  United  States  authorities.  These  con- 
flicts finally,  in  the  fall  of  1857,  broke  out  into  open  rebel- 
lion. 

Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who  afterward  won  im- 
perishable renown  upon  the  battlefield  of  Shiloh  in  the 
war  between  the  States,  was  sent  at  the  head  of  a  small 
army  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  This  he  succeeded  in 
doing  without  bloodshed,  but  only  by  the  exercise  of  the 
greatest  courage  and  determination  and  after  much  suf- 
fering on  the  part  of  his  men.  General  Johnston's  impres,- 
sions  of  the  Mormons,  as  recorded  in  his  life  by  Colonel 
William  Preston  Johnston,  were  not  very  complimentary. 
In  a  letter  to  the  Adjutant  General  on  November  5,  1857, 
he  said  of  them : 

"Their  conduct,  as  I  have  before  stated  as  my  opinion, 
results  from  a  settled  determination  on  their  part  not  to 
submit  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  or  any  other 
outside  of  their  church." 

Again,  in  a  letter  dated  February  5,  1858,  he  said : 

'The  Mormons  have  declared,  as  fully  as  words  and 
actions  can  manifest  intentions,  that  they  will  no  longer 
submit  to  the  government,  or  to  any  government  but  their 
own." 

In  another  letter  he  speaks  of  their  "disloyalty  to  the 
Union"  and  of  "the  treasonable  temper  and  feeling  now 
pervading  the  leaders  and  a  great  portion  of  the  Mor- 
mons." He  insists  that  "they  should  be  made  to  submit 
to  the  constitutional  and  legal  demands  of  the  government 
unconditionally.  An  adjustment  of  existing  differences 
on  any  other  basis  would  be  nugatory." 

Writing  to  General  Winfield  Scott,  March  31,  1859,  he 
remarked : 


72  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"I  have  refrained  from  speaking  of  the  horrible  crimes 
that  have  been  perpetrated  in  this  territory— crimes  of  a 
magnitude  and  of  an  apparently  studied  refinement  in 
atrocity  hardly  to  be  conceived  of,  and  which  have  gone 
unwhipped  of  justice.  These,  if  the  judges  are  sustained, 
they  will  endeavor  to  bring  to  light." 

Finding  that  he  could  not  control  General  Johnston 
either  by  force  or  by  bribery,  Brigham  Young  determined 
to  abandon  Utah  entirely  to  the  hated  United  States 
soldiers  and  to  seek  a  more  congenial  government,  but 
suddenly  changed  his  mind  after  about  30,000  of  the 
people  had  begun  moving  southward,  and  promised  sub- 
mission to  the  government.  This  promise  was  accepted 
in  good  faith  and  the  army  was  for  the  most  part  with- 
drawn from  the  territory.  "But  as  soon  as  the  pressure 
of  the  troops  was  removed  the  voice  of  the  prophet 
resumed  its  earlier  tone  of  truculent  defiance,  blackguard- 
ism and  blasphemy." 

The  following  from  an  officer  at  Camp  Floyd,  August 
11,  i860,  gives  the  changed  aspect  of  affairs  :  "The  sa'me 
game  has  commenced  on  the  part  of  the  Mormons  that 
was  played  before  the  army  came  here  as  regards  the 
Gentiles.  Brigham  preached  a  very  inflammatory  sermon 
last  Sunday.  He  cursed  the  government,  the  President 
and  the  Gentiles.  He  said  'he  would  wipe  them  all — 
every  one — out,  d — n  them!  that  he  would  let  the  gov- 
ernment know  that  he  was  still  here ;  that  he  would  send 
every  Gentile  to  hell  with  wooden  legs,  and  that  they  had 
better  be  supplying  themselves  now  while  lumber  was 
cheap/  " 

Finding  it  impossible  to  convict  anyone  for  the  frequent 
murders  being  committed  about  this  time,  Judge  Cradle- 
baugh  concluded  an  address  from  the  bench  as  follows : 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  7$ 

"Men  are  murdered  here — coolly,  deliberately,  premedi- 
tatedly  murdered.  Their  murder  is  deliberated  and  deter- 
minded  upon  by  church  council  meetings,  and  that,  too, 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  had  apostatized  from 
your  church  and  were  striving  to  leave  the  territory.  You 
are  the  tools,  the  dupes,  the  instruments  of  a  tyrannic 
cal  church  despotism.  The  heads  of  your  church  order 
and  direct  you.  You  are  taught  to  obey  their  orders  and 
commit  these  horrid  murders.  Deprived  of  your  liberty, 
you  have  lost  your  manhood,  and  become  the  willing 
instrument  of  bad  men.  I  say  to  you  it  will  be  my  earnest 
effort,  while  with  you,  to  knock  off  your  ecclesiastical 
shackles  and  set  you  free.,, 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  earnest  efforts  of 
the  judge  were  unavailing.  The  ecclesiastical  shackles 
were  not  knocked  off.  They  are  still  there.  At  another 
time  Judge  Cradlebaugh,  chagrined  and  annoyed  at  his 
inability  to  reach  the  guilty,  entered  upon  the  docket  of 
his  court :  "The  whole  community  presents  a  united  and 
organized  opposition  to  the  administration  of  justice." 

During  the  war  between  the  States  the  sympathies  of 
the  Mormons  were  strongly  against  the  North  and  in 
favor  of  the  South,  as  was  shown  by  the  preaching  in 
the  tabernacle.  It  was  not  that  the  Mormons  cared  for 
the  South  any  more  than  for  the  North.  Like  the  Irish- 
man, they  were  simply  against  the  government  and  wel- 
comed anything  which  would  tend  to  overthrow  it.  On 
the  Sunday  afternoon  preceding  the  surrender  of  General 
Lee,  Brigham  Young  predicted  in  the  tabernacle  that 
there  would  be  four  more  years  of  war. 

Brigham  Young  is  very  differently  regarded  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  By  the  Mormons  he  is  regarded  as  a  Moses 
who  led  them  out  of  Egypt,  through  the  wilderness  to 
the  Promised  Land.    They  consider  him  a  kind  of  demi- 


74  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

god.  But  by  the  Gentiles  he  is  considered  more  of  a 
demagogue  than  a  demigod,  ambitious,  scheming,  cun- 
ning, selfish,  grasping,  coarse  and  lustful,  loving  power, 
money  and  women  in  the  order  named.  His  statue  is 
placed  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  city.  But  it  was  done 
by  the  Mormons  over  the  indignant  protests  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, who  now  take  their  revenge  by  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  he  stands  with  his  back  to  the  temple  and 
his  hand  stretched  out  toward  the  bank— which  attitude, 
they  say,  is  quite  characteristic.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  estimated  to  be  worth  $7,000,000. 

Brigham  Young's  love  of  money  led  to  a  widespread 
apostasy  from  the  Mormon  church.  The  belief  was  gen- 
eral that  the  mountains  of  Utah  were  rich  in  minerals. 
But  Brigham  Young  forbade  the  Mormons  to  search  for 
or  work  mines,  saying :  "When  the  Lord  wants  the  mines 
opened  he  will  make  the  fact  known  through  his  priest- 
hood." In  1869,  however,  two  Mormons,  W.  S.  Godbe 
and  E.  L.  T.  Harrison,  started  a  little  magazine  in  which 
they  advocated  the  opening  of  the  mines.  They  were 
ordered  to  appear  before  the  High  Council  for  trial. 
George  Q.  Cannon,  the  present  First  Counselor  to  the 
Presidency,  was  the  prosecutor. 

In  his  speech  he  said:  "These  two  men  sitting  here 
have  blacker  hearts  than  any  two  men  since  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  They  want  to  open  up  the  mines  and  bring 
all  hell  and  the  devil  in  here." 

Judge  C.  C.  Goodwin,  editor  of  the  Sale  Lake  Tribune, 
says  in  Munsey's  Magazine  for  June,  1900,  that  "such  a 
feeling  was  aroused  in  the  council  that  only  a  word  would 
have  been  reeded  to  cause  these  men  to  be  torn  to  pieces." 
They  were  ex-communicated,  together  with  Henry  W. 
Lawrence,  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse,  the  Walker  brothers  and 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  75 

others.  That  meant  not  only  to  be  cut  off  from  eternal 
life,  according  to  Mormon  teachings,  but  social  ostracism 
and  a  business  boycott.  These  men  were  nearly  ruined  in 
business.  Mr.  Godbe  spent  a  fortune  in  maintaining  a 
paper  which  should  advocate  free  speech.  This  grew 
finally,  as  Gentiles  moved  into  the  territory,  into 
the  daily  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  of  which  Judge 
C.  C.  Goodwin  is  now  the  able  editor.  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  a  visit  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Godbe.  He  is  still  working 
mines  and  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  successful.  He 
is  a  very  pleasant  and  kindly  gentleman,  mild  of  manner 
and  soft  in  speech.  The  Walker  brothers  were  leading 
merchants.  Brigham  Young  determined  to  break  them 
down.  He  instituted  a  strict  boycott  against  them,  giving 
orders  that  no  Mormon  should  trade  with  them.  He  sta- 
tioned Mormon  policemen  at  the  store  to  see  that  his 
orders  were  obeyed.  He  organized  the  Zion's  Co-opera- 
tive Mercantile  Institution,  to  compete  with  them.  They 
sent  him  word  that  they  had  $150,000  to  spend  in  the  fight. 
They  now  have  a  large  and  flourishing  store  in  Salt  Lake 
City  and  are  worth  $1,000,000. 

Brigham  Young  died  in  1877  and  is  buried  in  a  private 
cemetery  near  the  Temple,  surrounded  by  eight  of  his 
twenty-six  wives,  and  with  space  left  for  the  others. 

The  apostles  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  "church" 
until  1880,  when  John  Taylor  was  elected  president.  He 
was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  went  to  Canada,  became  a 
Methodist  preacher,  joined  the  Mormons,  was  with  Joseph 
Smith  in  Nauvoo,  and  was  wounded  when  Smith  was 
killed.  While  on  a  mission  to  France  he  was  asked  if  the 
Mormons  did  not  believe  in  and  practice  polygamy.  He 
denied  it  very  emphatically.  At  that  time  he  himself  had 
at  least  six  living  wives.    He  was  a  thorough  fanatic,  who 


76  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  the  Lord  intends  to  rule 
this  earth  through  the  Mormon  priesthood  and  that  all 
other  governments  are  usurpations.  He  made  polygamy 
obligatory  upon  all  Mormon  officials. 

John  Taylor  died  in  1887  and  was  succeeded  by  Wil- 
ford  Woodruff,  at  the  age  of  80.  He  was  well  preserved, 
erect  and  clear-eyed.  In  1897,  though  past  90,  he  made 
many  speeches  in  the  jubilee  celebration.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  "gentle,  and  winsome  in  his  ways  and  was  loved 
exceedingly  by  the  Mormon  people."  He  it  was  who 
issued  the  famous  manifesto  advising  the  Mormons  to 
discontinue  the  practice  of  polygamy. 

The  present  head  of  the  church  is  Lorenzo  Snow,  who 
succeeded  Wilford  Woodruff  in  1898.  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  meeting  him.  He  is  a  kindly  looking  old  gentle- 
man, 85  years  of  age.  He  is  said  to  be  the  best  educated 
and  most  broad-minded  man  who  ever  occupied  the  re- 
sponsible position  of  President  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  which,  perhaps,  is  not  say- 
ing very  much. 

There  are  at  present  about  250,000  Mormons  in  the 
world.  About  170,000  of  these  live  in  Utah  and  30,000 
of  them  in  Salt  Lake  City.  The  city  has  about  60,000 
inhabitants,  divided  nearly  equally  between  the  Mormons 
and  Gentiles.  The  city  election  in  November,  1899,  was 
carried  by  the  Gentiles. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ITS       HISTORY— POLYGAMY— "REVELATION" 
ON  SUBJECT. 

The  doctrine  of  polygamy  was  revealed  to  Joseph  Smith 
in  1843,  so  he  claimed.  But  Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts  says  that 
"it  was  in  183 1  that  plural  marriage  was  first  made  known 
to  Joseph  Smith."  The  "Book  of  Mormon,"  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  written  by  Solomon  Spaulding  and  Sidney 
Rigdon,  had  expressly  forbidden  polygamy.  But  this 
stood  in  the  way  of  Smith's  lecherous  designs  and  prac- 
tices, so  he  had  a  "revelation"  on  the  subject.  It  is  con- 
tained in  section  132  of  the  "Doctrine  and  Covenants," 
a  book  which  is  accepted  by  the  Mormons  as  of 
equal  authority  with  the  "Book  of  Mormon,"  and  which 
even  supersedes  the  "Book  of  Mormon"  where  the  two 
come  in  conflict,  as  in  the  case  of  the  doctrine  of  poly- 
gamy. 

The  heading  of  the  section  reads : 
"Revelation  on  the  Eternity  of  the  Marriage  Covenant, 

including  Plurality  of  Wives.    Given  through  Joseph, 

the  Seer,  in  Nauvoo,  Hancock  County,  Illinois,  July 

12th,  1843." 

The  section  is  quite  long,  embracing  sixty-six  para- 
graphs. I  should  be  glad  to  give  it  entire  if  I  had  space. 
I  can,  however,  quote  only  a  few  salient  paragraphs 
from  it: 

"1.  Verily,  thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  you,  my  servant 
Joseph,  that  inasmuch  as  you  have  inquired  of  my  hand, 

77 


78  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

to  know  and  understand  wherein  I,  the  Lord,  justified  my 
servants  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob ;  as  also  Moses,  David 
and  Solomon,  my  servants,  as  touching  the  principle  and 
doctrine  of  their  having  many  wives  and  concubines : 

"2..  Behold !  and  lo,  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  will 
answer  thee  as  touching  this  matter : 

"3.  Therefore,  prepare  thy  heart  to  receive  and  obey 
the  instructions  which  I  am  about  to  give  unto  you ;  for 
all  those  who  have  this  law  revealed  unto  them  must  obey 
the  same; 

"4.  For  behold !  I  reveal  unto  you  a  new  and  an  ever- 
lasting covenant ;  and  if  ye  abide  not  that  covenant,  then 
are  ye  damned;  for  no  one  can  reject  this  covenant  and 
be  permitted  to  enter  into  my  glory : 

"5.  For  all  who  will  have  a  blessing  at  my  hands  shall 
abide  the  law  which  was  appointed  for  that  blessing,  and 
the  conditions  thereof,  as  were  instituted  from  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world : 

"6.  And  as  pertaining  to  the  new  and  everlasting  cove- 
nant, it  was  instituted  for  the  fullness  of  my  glory ;  and  he 
that  receiveth  a  fullness  thereof,  must  and  shall  abide  the 

law,  or  he  shall  be  damned,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

******** 

"19.  And  again,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  if  a  man  marry 
a  wife  by  my  word,  which  is  my  law,  and  by  the  new  and 
everlasting  covenant,  and  it  is  sealed  unto  them  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  by  him  who  is  anointed,  unto 
whom  I  have  appointed  this  power,  and  the  keys  of  this 
Priesthood ;  and  it  shall  be  said  unto  them,  ye  shall  come 
forth  in  the  first  resurrection,  and  if  it  be  after  the  first 
resurrection,  in  the  next  resurrection;  and  shall  inherit 
thrones,  kingdoms,  principalities  and  powers,  dominions, 
all  heights  and  depths — then  shall  it  be  written  in  the 
Lamb's  Book  cf  Life  that  he  shall  commit  no  murder 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  79 

whereby  to  shed  innocent  blood,  and  if  ye  abide  in  my 
covenant,  and  commit  no  murder  whereby  to  shed  inno- 
cent blood,  it  shall  be  done  unto  them  in  all  things  what- 
soever my  servant  hath  put  upon  them,  in  time  and 
through  all  eternity,  and  shall  be  of  full  force  when  they 
are  out  of  the  world ;  and  they  shall  pass  by  the  angels 
and  the  Gods,  which  are  set  there,  to  their  exaltation  and 
glory  in  all  things,  as  hath  been  sealed  upon  their  heads, 
which  glory  shall  be  a  fullness  and  a  continuation  of  the 
seeds  forever  and  ever. 

"20.  Then  shall  they  be  Gods,  because  they  have  no 
end;  therefore  shall  they  be  from  everlasting  to  everlast- 
ing, because  they  continue ;  then  shall  they  be  above  all, 
because  all  things  are  subject  unto  them.  Then  shall  they 
be  Gods,  because  they  have  all  power,  and  the  angels  are 
subject  to  them. 

"21.  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  except  ye  abide 

my  law,  ye  cannot  attain  to  this  glory. 

******** 

"31.  This  promise  is  yours  also,  because  ye  are  of 
Abraham,  and  the  promise  was  made  unto  Abraham ;  and 
by  this  law  are  the  continuation  of  the  works  of  my 
Father,  wherein  he  glorifieth  himself. 

"32.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and:  do  the  works  of  Abraham ; 
enter  ye  into  my  law  and  ye  shall  be  saved. 

"33.  But  if  ye  enter  not  into  my  law,  ye  cannot  receive 
the  promise  of  my  Father,  which  he  made  unto  Abraham. 

"34.  God  commanded  Abraham,  and  Sarah  gave  Hagar 
to  Abraham  to  wife.  And  why  did  she  do  it?  Because 
this  was  the  law,  and  from  Hagar  sprang  many  people. 
This,  therefore,  was  fulfilling,  among  other  things,  the 
promises. 

"35.  Was  Abraham,  therefore,  under  condemnation? 


80  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Verily,  I   say  unto  you,   Nay,   for  I,  the  Lord,  com- 
manded it. 

"35.  Abraham  was  commanded  to  offer  his  son  Isaac; 
nevertheless,  it  was  written,  thou  shalt  not  kill.  Abra- 
ham, however,  did  not  refuse,  and  it  was  accounted  unto 
him  for  righteousness. 

"37.  Abraham  received  concubines,  and  they  bear  him 
children,  and  it  was  accounted  unto  him  for  righteous- 
ness, because  they  were  given  unto  him,  and  he  abode  in 
my  law,  as  Isaac,  also,  and  Jacob  did  none  other  things 
than  that  which  they  were  commanded ;  and  because  they 
did  none  other  things  than  that  which  they  were  com- 
manded, they  have  entered  into  their  exaltation,  accord- 
ing to  the  promises,  and  sit  upon  thrones,  and  are  not 
angels,  but  are  Gods. 

"38.  David  also  received  many  wives  and  concubines, 
as  also  Solomon  and  Moses,  my  servants;  as  also  many 
other  servants,  from  the  beginning  of  creation  until  this 
time;  and  in  nothing  did  they  sin,  save  in  those  things 
which  they  received  not  of  me. 

"39.  David's  wives  and  concubines  were  given  unto 
him,  of  me,  by  the  hand  of  Nathan,  my  servant,  and 
others  of  the  prophets  who  had  the  keys  of  this  power ; 
and  in  none  of  these  things  did  he  sin  against  me,  save  in 
the  case  of  Uriah  and  his  wife;  and  therefore  he  hath 
fallen  from  his  exaltation,  and  received  his  portion;  and 
he  shall  not  inherit  them  out  of  the  world ;  for  I  gave  them 
unto  another,  saith  the  Lord." 

As  Smith  had  begun  the  practice  of  polygamy  before 
he  had  this  "revelation/'  and  as  his  wife,  Emma,  threat- 
ened to  make  trouble  in  the  family,  "the  Lord"  gave 
Smith  a  special  "revelation"  for  her  benefit,  to  quiet  her 
compunctions  of  conscience,  in  which  he  said : 

"54.  And  I  command  mine  handmaid,  Emma  Smith,  to 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  81 

abide  and  cleave  unto  my  servant,  Joseph,  and  to  none 
else.  But  if  she  will  not  abide  this  commandment,  she 
shall  be  destroyed,  saith  the  Lord ;  for  I  am  the  Lord,  thy 
God,  and  will  destroy  her,  if  she  abide  not  in  my  law ; 

"55.  But  if  she  will  not  abide  this  commandment,  then 
shall  my  servant,  Joseph,  do  all  things  for  her,  even  as  he 
hath  said ;  and  I  will  bless  him  and  multiply  him  and  give 
unto  him  an  hundred-fold  in  this  world,  of  fathers  and 
mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  houses  and  lands,  wives 
and  children,  and  crowns  of  eternal  lives  in  the  eternal 
worlds. 

"56.  And  again,  verily  I  say,  let  mine  handmaid  forgive 
my  servant  Joseph,  his  trespasses ;  and  then  shall  she  be 
forgiven  her  trespasses,  wherein  she  hath  trespassed 
against  me ;  and  I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  will  bless  her  and 
multiply  her,  and  make  her  heart  to  rejoice." 

The  "revelation"  continues: 

"61.  And  again,  as  pertaining  to  the  law  of  the  Priest- 
hood :  If  any  man  espouse  a  virgin,  and  desire  to  espouse 
another,  and  the  first  give  her  consent ;  and  if  he  espouse 
the  second,  and  they  are  virgins,  and  have  vowed  to  no 
other  man,  then  he  is  justified  ;  he  cannot  commit  adultery, 
for  they  are  given  unto  him;  for  he  cannot  commit 
adultery  with  that  that  belongeth  unto  him,  and  to  no  one 
else. 

"62.  And  if  he  have  ten  virgins  given  unto  him  by  this 
law  he  cannot  commit  adultery,  for  they  belong  to  him, 
and  they  are  given  unto  him,  therefore  he  is  justified. 

"63.  But  if  one  or  either  of  the  ten  virgins,  after  she 
is  espoused,  be  with  another  man,  she  hath  committed 
adultery,  and  she  shall  be  destroyed ;  for  they  are  given 
unto  him  to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,  according 
to  my  commandment,  and  to  fulfill  the  promise  which 
was  given  by  my  Father  before  the  foundation  of  the 


82  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

world ;  and  for  their  exaltation  in  the  eternal  worlds,  that 

they  may  bear  the  souls  of  men;  for  herein  is  the  work 

of  my  Father  continued,  that  he  may  be  glorified." 
The  concluding  paragraph  of  the  section  reads : 
"66.  And  now,  as  pertaining  to  this  law,  verily,  verily, 

I  say  unto  you,  I  will  reveal  more  unto  you,  hereafter; 

therefore,  let  this  suffice  for  the  present.     Behold,  I  am 

Alpha  and  Omega.     Amen." 

I   cannot   discuss   the   doctrine   of  polygamy   at   any 

length  now.    I  only  want  to  call  attention  to  a  few  points 

in  the  above  "revelation." 

1.  According  to  it  every  Mormon  is  required  to  believe 
in  polygamy  under  penalty  of  damnation  if  he  does  not. 

2.  Those  who  believe  in  and  practice  polygamy  "shall 
be  Gods."  They  shall  "sit  upon  thrones,  and  are  not 
angels,  but  are  Gods." 

3.  It  contains  an  appeal  to  Smith's  wife,  Emma,  to 
forgive  him  his  "trespasses,"  showing  that  he  acknowl- 
edged his  trespasses  against  her.  And  thus  the  shame 
of  the  founder  of  Mormonism  is  recorded  in  one  of  its 
sacred  books  to  stand  forever  against  him  as  a  brand  of 
infamy. 

But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  attempt  of  Smith  to  put  his 
doctrine  into  practice  led  to  his  death  at  the  hands  of  an 
infuriated  mob.  The  doctrine  itself  was  not  published 
until  nine  years  later.  It  was  openly  proclaimed  in  1852 
by  Brigham  Young,  after  he  was  securely  settled  in 
Utah,  where  he  thought  himself  beyond  the  power  of 
the  United  States  laws.  It  was  intended  as  a  justification 
of  his  own  course.  In  order  to  give  effect  to  it,  he  com- 
manded other  Mormon  leaders  to  take  to  themselves 
polygamous  wives.  This  they  did  very  reluctantly  at 
first.  But  the  practice  grew  both  in  extent  and  in  bold- 
ness. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ITS  HISTORY— LAWS  AGAINST  POLYGAMY— 
CULLOM  LAW  — EDMUNDS  LAW  — ED- 
MUNDS-TUCKER LAW, 

When  the  people  of  the  United  States  realized  that 
there  was  in  their  land  a  body  of  people  guilty  of  the 
grossest  immorality  under  the  name  of  religion,  they  felt 
a  thrill  of  horror  and  they  determined  to  check  it.  The 
first  anti-polygamy  law  was  passed  by  Congress,  July  I, 
1862.  It  is  known  as  the  Cullom  law.  It  reads  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Every  person  having  a  husband  or  wife  living  who 
marries  another,  whether  married  or  single,  in  a  territory, 
or  other  place  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction,  is  guilty  of  bigamy,  and  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  and 
by  imprisonment  for  a  term  not  more  than  five  years ;  but 
this  section  shall  not  extend  to  any  person  by  reason  of 
any  former  marriage  whose  husband  or  wife  by  such 
marriage  is  absent  for  five  successive  years,  and  is  not 
known  to  such  person  to  be  living;  nor  to  any  person  "by 
reason  of  any  former  marriage  which  has  been  dissolved 
by  decree  of  a  competent  court;  nor  to  any  person  by 
reason  of  any  former  marriage  which  has  been  pronounced 
void  by  decree  of  a  competent  court  on  the  ground  of  nul- 
lity of  the  marriage  contract."  (Revised  Statutes  of  the 
U.  S.,  Second  Edition,  1878.) 

In  1880  Governor  Eli  H.  Murray,  of  Kentucky,  then 
Governor  of  Utah,  refused  a  certificate  of  election  to  Con- 

83 


84  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

gress  to  George  Q.  Cannon,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
violated  this  law.  The  women  of  the  country  interested 
themselves  in  the  matter.  Congress  declined  to  seat  Mr. 
Cannon,  and  he  was  compelled  to  return  home  and  look 
after  his  growing  family.  But  as  the  Mormons  used 
every  artifice  to  evade  this  law,  Congress,  on  March 
22,  1882,  passed  a  much  more  stringent  one,  known  as 
the  Edmunds  law,  which  reads  as  follows : 

"Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  section  fifty-three  hundred 
and  fifty-two  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
be  and  the  same  is  hereby  amended  as  follows,  namely : 

"Section  1.  Every  person  who  has  a  husband  or  wife 
living,  who,  in  a  territory  or  other  place  over  which  the 
United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction,  hereafter  mar- 
ries another,  whether  married  or  single,  and  any  man  who 
hereafter,  simultaneously,  or  on  the  same  day,  marries 
more  than  one  woman,  in  a  territory  or  other  place  over 
which  the  United  States  have  exclusive  jurisdiction,  is 
guilty  of  polygamy,  and  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not 
more  than  five  hundred  dollars  and  by  imprisonment  for 
a  term  of  not  more  than  five  years. 

"Sec.  2.  That  the  foregoing  provisions  shall  not  affect 
the  prosecution  or  punishment  of  any  offense  committed 
against  the  section  amended  by  the  first  section  of  this  act. 

"Sec.  3.  That  if  any  male  person,  in  a  territory  or  other 
place  over  which  the  United  States  have  exclusive  juris- 
diction, hereafter  cohabits  with  more  than  one  woman,  he 
shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  conviction 
thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  three 
hundred  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  of  not  more  than 
six  months,  or  by  both  said  punishments  in  the  discretion 
of  the  court." 

Then  follow  a  number  of  other  sections,  nine  in  all 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER,  85 

which  are  too  long  and  hardly  of  sufficient  importance  to 
quote  in  full.    I  give  the  substance  of  them: 

Section  4  provides  that  the  counts  in  sections  1  and  3 
may  be  joined. 

Section  5  provides  that  a  person  guilty  of  bigamy 
or  unlawful  cohabitation,  as  denned  in  sections  1  and  3, 
or  who  "believes  it  right  for  a  man  to  have  more  than  one 
living  and  undivorced  wife  at  the  same  time,  or  to  live 
in  the  practice  of  cohabiting  with  more  than  one  woman," 
may  be  challenged  and  questioned  and  disqualified  for 
service  on  jury. 

Section  6  provides  that  the  President  may  grant  am- 
nesty to  persons  guilty  of  bigamy,  etc.,  before  the  passage 
of  this  act. 

Section  7  provides  that  the  children  of  Mormon  mar- 
riages before  January,  1883,  shall  be  made  legitimate. 

Section  8  provides  that  bigamists,  etc.,  shall  be  disquali- 
fied as  voters  and  ineligible  to  appointments. 

Section  9  provides  for  a  board  to  take  the  place  of  the 
registration  and  election  officers  who  are  declared  out  of 
office,  and  fixes  the  salary  of  members  of  the  board. 

The  essential  difference  between  this  law  and  the  one 
passed  in  1862  is  the  clause  condemning  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation. (Supplement  to  Revised  Statutes  of  U.  S.,  Vol.  I., 
Second  Edition,  74-91.) 

But  even  the  Edmunds  law,  stringent  as  it  was,  did  not 
seem  to  accomplish  its  purpose.  There  were  loop  holes 
in  it  through  which  the  Mormons  could  escape.  So  on 
March  3,  1887,  the  Edmunds-Tucker  Act  was  passed  as 
an  amendment  to  the  Edmunds  Act  of  1882. 

This  is  quite  long,  embracing  twenty-seven  sections. 
I  can  give  only  the  substance  of  some  of  them  bearing 
especially  on  the  subject  of  polygamy,  etc. 


86  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Paragraph  I  provides  that  in  prosecutions  for  bigamy, 
etc.,  the  husband  or  wife  may  testify,  but  not  to  confiden- 
tial communications  between  them. 

Paragraph  2  provides  for  the  issuance  of  an  attachment 
when  it  is  believed  that  a  witness  will  fail  to  appear. 

Paragraph  9  requires  that  certificates  of  marriage  shall 
be  filed  by  anyone  performing  the  marriage  ceremony 
in  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  such  certificates 
to  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  marriage.  This  section  also 
provides  that  those  who  violate  its  provisions  shall  be 
"punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $1,000,  or  by  im- 
prisonment not  longer  than  two  years,  or  by  both  said 
punishments,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court." 

Paragraph  10  provides  that  any  legal  evidence  of  mar- 
riage may  be  admissible. 

Paragraph  1 1  provides  that  the  laws  of  Utah  allowing 
illegitimate  children  to  inherit  the  property  of  their 
father  shall  be  annulled,  which  provision,  however,  was 
not  to  be  retroactive. 

Then  follow  several  sections  with  reference  to  the  prop- 
erty rights  of  persons  in  Utah. 

Paragraph  17  provides  for  the  abolition  of  the  "acts 
of  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  in- 
corporating, continuing  or  providing  for  the  corporation 
known  as  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints  and  the  ordinance  of  the  so-called  general  assem- 
bly of  the  State  of  Deseret  incorporating  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,"  and  provides  for 
winding  up  its  affairs. 

Paragraph  22  provides  that  the  election  districts  shall 
be  abolished,  the  Territory  redistricted,  and  that  only 
citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  be  entitled  to  vote. 

Paragraph  23  requires  that  an  oath  shall  be  taken  before 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  87 

voting,  in  which  every  person  shall  swear  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to  faithfully  obey 
the  laws  thereof,  and  especially  the  Edmunds  Act  of  1882, 
and  provides  that  jurors  shall  be  required  to  do  the  same. 
It  goes  on  to  say : 

"No  person  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  any  election  in 
said  territory,  or  be  capable  of  jury  service,  or  hold  any 
office  of  trust  or  emolument  in  said  territory,  who  shall 
not  have  taken  the  oath  or  affirmation  aforesaid.  No 
person  who  shall  have  been  convicted  of  any  crime  under 
this  act,  or  under  the  act  of  Congress  aforesaid,  approved 
March  22,  1882,  or  who  shall  be  a  polygamist,  or  who 
shall  associate  with  or  cohabit  polygamously  with  persons 
of  the  other  sex,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  in  any  election 
in  said  territory,  or  be  capable  of  jury  service,  or  hold 
any  office  of  trust  or  emolument  in  said  territory." 

This  law  was  so  minute  in  its  provisions  as  to  cover 
every  conceivable  case  of  polygamy  or  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion, and  also  so  stringent  that  it  could  not  be  evaded.  It 
produced  the  greatest  consternation  in  the  Mormon  ranks. 
Many  arrests  were  made  for  polygamy,  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation, etc.  The  courts  and  juries  being  taken  out  of 
Mormon  hands,  conviction  followed  arrest. 

To  Judge  John  W.  Judd,  now  of  Nashville,  but  who 
was  at  that  time  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Utah,  is  due  especial  credit  for  enforcing  the  law 
and  thus  shattering  the  almost  impregnable  organization 
of  the  Mormons. 

John  Taylor  had  succeeded  Brigham  Young  in  1877 
as  head  of  the  church.  After  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds 
Act  he  fled  to  Mexico  to  escape  its  provisions  and  died 
there  in  1886,  a  fugitive  from  justice.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Wilford  Woodruff.    He  followed  the  example  set  by 


88  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

his  predecessor,  and  after  the  passage  of  the  Edmunds- 
Tucker  Act  he  went  in  hiding  to  evade  the  punishment 
it  provided  for  all  who  violated  it,  as  he  was  constantly 
doing. 

George  Q.  Cannon,  who  stood  second  to  Wilford 
Woodruff  in  authority,  and  the  delegate  from  the  Terri- 
tory of  Utah  to  Congress,  fled  from  Utah,  but  he  was 
arrested  at  Denver  and  sent  back.  On  the  way  to  Salt 
Lake  City  he  complained  of  being  sick,  went  to  the  rear 
platform  of  the  train  and  fell  (?)  off.  But  the  officer 
fell  ( ?)  too.  Mr.  Cannon  was  brought  back,  put  under 
a  $40,000  bond,  which  he  jumped,  but  afterward  he  re- 
turned, was  sentenced  and  sent  to  the  United  States 
penitentiary. 

Mr.  Brigham  H.  Roberts,  the  polygamous  Congress- 
man-elect to  the  Fifty-sixth  Congress,  took  every  one  of 
his  plural  wives  in  violation  of  the  Edmunds  and  Ed- 
munds-Tucker laws.  He  served  a  term  in  the  peniten- 
tiary for  polygamy,  and  when  he  came  out  he  showed  his 
defiance  of  the  law  by  taking  another  wife.  This  is  the 
man  who  went  to  Washington  asking  a  seat  in  Congress 
to  make  laws  for  the  people  of  this  country ! 

Dr.  T.  C.  Iliff,  Superintendent  of  Methodist  Missions 
in  Utah  and  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Salt  Lake  City  dis- 
trict, and  who  has  spent  twenty-eight  years  in  Utah, 
recently  delivered  a  very  interesting  lecture  in  the  Tulip 
Street  Methodist  Church,  Nashville,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  said  that  about  this  time  he  was  chaplain  of  the 
United  States  penitentiary,  and  that  he  had  a  very  distin- 
guished audience,  which  included  one  apostle,  about  forty 
or  fifty  bishops  and  innumerable  elders — all  in  prison 
garb.  These  men,  who  were  convicted  of  breaking  the 
law,  all  had  the  opportunity  to  escape  by  promising  to 


LORENZO    SNOW. 
PRESENT  PRESIDENT. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  89 

obey  the  law  in  the  future,  but  they  steadfastly  refused 
to  do  so,  preferring  to  go  to  the  penitentiary  rather  than 
give  up  their  habits  of  polygamy,  so  strongly  did  they 
hold  to  the  doctrine. 

Finding,  however,  that  they  could  not  evade  the  law, 
and  that  it  did  not  pay  to  defy  it,  the  Mormons  decided 
to  try  another  tack.  So  in  1890  President  Wilford  Wood- 
ruff issued  a  manifesto  to  his  followers,  in  which  he 
declared  that  he  proposed  to  obey  the  laws  and  advised 
every  one  else  to  do  so.  He  was  asked  on  the  witness 
stand  if  his  proclamation  was  intended  to  cover  future 
plural  marriages.  He  said  it  did.  Again,  he  was  asked 
if  it  was  intended  to  cover  unlawful  cohabitation  as 
denned  by  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law.    He  said  it  did. 

Lorenzo  Snow,  the  present  head  of  the  church,  who 
succeeded  Wilford  Woodruff  in  1898,  also  testified  to  the 
same  effect. 

In  1891  an  amnesty  was  granted  by  President  Harrison 
to  those  Mormons  who  were  in  exile  and  in  the  peniten- 
tiary. This  was  done  on  the  most  solemn  promise  of  the 
Mormon  leaders,  pledging  their  "faith  and  honor"  that 
old  polygamous  relations  should  cease  and  that  no  new 
polygamous  marriages  would  be  consummated— in  other 
words,  that  they  would  obey  the  laws. 

Two  great  conferences  of  the  Mormon  people  held  in 
the  tabernacle  in  October,  1890,  and  October,  1891,  sol- 
emnly and  unanimously  ratified  this  action  of  their  lead- 
ers. In  order  to  get  back  the  church  property  which  had 
been  confiscated  by  the  United  States  Government  in  the 
Edmunds-Tucker  Act,  the  Mormon  Church  pledged  itself 
that  "the  rightfulness  of  the  doctrine  of  polygamy  shall 
not  be  inculcated"— that  is,  that  it  should  not  even  be 
taught. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ITS  HISTORY— STATEHOOD— POLYGAMY  PRO- 
HIBITED—POLYGAMY PRACTICED. 

Having  quieted  the  public  conscience  by  such  profuse 
promises,  the  Mormons  then  began  to  apply  for  statehood 
for  Utah.  The  evident  purpose  of  this  action  was  to  get 
out  from  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
Courts  and  have  the  privilege  of  making  their  own  laws 
and  choosing  their  own  judges  and  jurors. 

On  December  12,  1893,  Mr.  J.  L.  Rawlins,  now  United 
States  Senator  from  Utah,  then  delegate  to  Congress  from 
the  Territory  of  Utah,  pledged  on  the  floor  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  on  behalf  of  the  leaders  of  the  Mor- 
mon Church,  that  if  Utah  should  be  admitted  to  the  Union 
as  a  State,  polygamy  would  be  forever  abolished  by  the 
people  of  that  State. 

In  view  of  all  these  solemn  pledges,  and  as  both  political 
parties  wished  to  conciliate  the  Mormons  and  secure  their 
votes — because  they  are  accustomed  to  vote  solidly,  one 
way  or  the  other — Congress,  on  July  16,  1894,  passed  the 
Enabling  Act,  granting  statehood  to  Utah.  But  to  be  on 
the  safe  side,  it  accompanied  the  grant  with  the  following 
provision,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  admission: 

"And  said  [constitutional]  convention  shall  provide,  by 
ordinance  irrevocable  without  the  consent  of  the  United 
States  and  the  people  of  said  State — First,  That  perfect 
toleration  of  religious  sentiment  be  secured,  and  that  no 
inhabitant  of  said  State  shall  ever  be  molested  in  person 
or  property  on  account  of  his  or  her  mode  of  religious 

90 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  91 

worship ;  provided,  that  polygamous  or  plural  marriages 
are  forever  prohibited." 

The  constitutional  convention  of  Utah,  in  accordance 
with  this  condition,  incorporated  into  the  Constitution  a 
clause  forever  prohibiting  the  practice  of  polygamy  with- 
in the  bounds  of  that  State.    The  following  is  the  clause : 

"The  following  ordinance  shall  be  irrevocable  without 
the  consent  of  the  United  States  and  the  people  of  this 
State :  First— Perfect  toleration  of  religious  sentiment  is 
guaranteed.  No  inhabitant  of  this  State  shall  ever  be 
molested  in  person  or  property  on  account  of  his  or  her 
mode  of  religious  worship,  but  polygamous  or  plural  mar- 
riages are  forever  prohibited." 

This,  as  is  seen,  is  almost  an  exact  copy  of  the  clause 
on  the  subject  of  polygamy  in  the  Enabling  Act,  showing 
how  thoroughly  the  people  of  Utah,  of  whom  about  five- 
sixths  are  Mormons,  agreed  to  accept  its  provisions. 

Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts,  afterwards  the  Congressman-elect 
from  Utah,  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  constitutional 
convention  which  adopted  this  clause. 

The  same  constitutional  convention  provided  that  all 
laws  of  the  territory  in  force  at  the  time  the  Constitution 
was  adopted  should  remain  in  force  until  they  expired  by 
their  own  limitations  or  were  altered  or  repealed  by  the 
Legislature.  Among  these  laws  is  the  one  against  "un- 
lawful co-habitation,"  found  in  section  3  of  the  Edmunds 
law  already  quoted.  The  Legislature  of  Utah  incorpo- 
rated this  law  into  the  penal  code  of  the  State. 

It  reads  as  follows : 

"If  any  male  person  cohabits  with  more  than  one 
woman  he  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  con- 
viction thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more 
than  $300,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  not 


92  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

more  than  six  months,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  Court."  (Revised  Statutes  of  Utah,  1898, 
p.  900,  section  4209.) 

The  Mormons  accepted  these  conditions.  Of  course 
they  did.  They  would  have  accepted  any  conditions  to 
get  statehood.  What  did  they  care  for  conditions  when 
such  a  big  prize  was  at  stake  ?  Conditions,  pledges,  prom- 
ises, are  made  only  to  be  broken  anyhow — by  Mormons. 

Brigham  Young  had  said  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  the 
Salt  Lake  Tabernacle,  July  12,  1875  : 

"Do  not  be  discouraged  by  your  repeated  failures  to 
get  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  We  shall  succeed,  we  shall 
pull  the  wool  over  the  eyes  of  the  American  people  and 
make  them  swallow  Mormonism,  polygamy  and  all. 

"We  shall  drop  the  old  issue  between  the  Mormons  and 
the  Liberals  in  Utah,  ally  ourselves  with  the  two  great 
national  parties,  dividing  ourselves  about  equally — so  as 
to  fall  in  with  the  one  in  power.  We  don't  know  and  we 
don't  care  about  the  issues.  We  must  be  at  peace  with 
them  in  order  to  get  into  the  Union.  After  that  we  can 
snap  our  fingers  in  their  faces,  restore  the  good  old 
times  when  we  dwelt  undisturbed  in  these  valleys  of  the 
mountains,  and  cast  out  devils  as  we  used  to  do." 

But  statehood  was  granted.  The  Mormons  at  last 
received  their  coveted  prize.  They  were  removed  from 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  Government 
and  were  given  the  privilege  to  make  their  own  laws,  with 
all  the  powers  of  a  sovereign  State.  What  followed? 
They  at  once  proceeded  to  teach  polygamy  all  over  the 
State  and  to  resume  their  polygamous  practices,  "snapped 
their  fingers"  defiantly  in  the  face  of  Congress  and  said : 
"Now,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?"  Brigham 
Young's  prophesy  became  history — for  one  time.     The 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  93 

"good  old  times"  were  restored.  Missionaries  from  all 
over  Utah  testified  that  old  conditions  were  being  revived 
and  that  the  Mormon  leaders  were  violating  their  solemn 
pledges. 

When  attention  was  called  to  this  condition  of  things 
the  Deseret  News,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  the  official  organ  of 
the  Mormon  Church,  gave  lengthy  editorial  space  to  a  de- 
fense of  such  lawless  course,  claiming  that  there  was  at 
the  time  of  admission  "a  tacit  understanding,  not  to  say 
contract,  that  the  dead  strife  [prosecution  for  polygamy] 
should  be  buried ;  that  family  obligations  [meaning  poly- 
gamous marriages]  already  entered  into  and  maintained 
for  years  should  not  be  disrupted."  Upon  the  same  sub- 
ject Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts  said  :  "Technically  a  law  [against 
cohabitation  with  plural  wives]  crept  into  our  statute 
books.  *  *  *  That  law  has  not  been  executed,  and,  like 
some  of  the  blue  laws  of  Connecticut,  which  exist  on  the 
statute  books  under  similar  circumstances,  it  has  not  been 
enforced."  (See  Salt  Lake  Herald,  Nov.  6,  1898.)  All 
this  is,  of  course,  in  effect  admitting  that  both  the  pre- 
tended constitutional  and  the  legal  prohibition  of 
polygamy  were  a  mere  farce  to  deceive  the  nation  and 
secure  statehood  for  Utah — or,  to  use  Brigham  Young's 
elegant  phrases,  the  purpose  of  their  adoption  was  simply 
to  "pull  the  wool  over  the  eyes  of  the  American  people 
and  make  them  swallow  Mormonism,  polygamy  and  all." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ITS  HISTORY— THE  ROBERTS  CASE— ARGU- 
MENTS FOR  AND  AGAINST—EXCLUDED 
FROM  CONGRESS. 

In  addition  to  all  the  violations  of  their  solemn  pledges 
upon  the  subject  of  polygamy  mentioned  in  the  last  chap- 
ter, and  as  if  to  throw  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  American 
people,  the  Mormons  in  November,  1898,  elected  Mr. 
Brigham  H.  Roberts  as  their  representative  in  the  Fifty- 
sixth  Congress.  As  this  case  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
whole  country,  I  shall  discuss  it  somewhat  in  detail.  Mr. 
Roberts  is  a  prominent  Mormon  elder  and  the  author  of 
one  of  their  standard  books,  called  "New  Witness  for 
God,"  which  lies  before  me.  In  this  he  uses  all  the  arts 
of  sophistry  and  of  ingenuity  to  prove  that  Joseph  Smith 
is  that  "New  Witness."  I  shall  have  occasion  to  quote 
from  the  book  later  on  other  points.  We  are  concerned 
now  only  with  his  belief  and  practice  as  to  polygamy. 
He  was  an  avowed  polygamist,  having  at  least  three 
wives.  All  of  his  polygamous  wives,  if  they  may  be 
called  such,  he  married  since  the  Edmunds  anti-polygamy 
law  of  1882,  or  since  the  congressional  anti-polygamy  law 
of  1862,  and  hence  his  marriages  were  all  consummated 
in  the  open  and  willful  defiance  of  law,  as  well  as  in  the 
willful  defiance  of  the  sense  of  morality  of  the  American 
people.  He  was  convicted  of  living  with  a  plural  wife 
prior  to  the  amnesty  proclamation  of  President  Benjamin 
Harrison,  January  4,  1893,  and  of  President  Grover 
Cleveland,   September  25,   1894,   for  which  offense  he 

94 


.   THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  95 

served  a  term  of  imprisonment,  to  which  he  was  sentenced 
on  May  1,  1889.  He  confessedly  lived  with  plural  wives 
and  begat  polygamous  children  since  November  1,  1890, 
and  had  not  therefore  complied  with  the  conditions  of 
either  of  the  said  amnesty  proclamations. 

His  election  aroused  the  intensest  indignation  all  over 
the  country.  It  seemed  a  deliberate  attempt  to  carry  out 
Brigham  Young's  threat  to  "pull  the  wool  over  the  eyes 
of  the  American  people  and  make  them  swallow  Mormon- 
ism,  polygamy  and  all." 

The  Ministers'  Association  of  Salt  Lake  City  sent  out 
tract  after  tract  giving  information  upon  the  subject. 
Dr.  T.  C.  Iliff  and  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Campbell,  of  the  Associa- 
tion, came  east  and  by  their  speeches  and  their  persuasion 
fanned  the  interest  into  a  flame.  The  League  for  Social 
Service  of.  New  York  City,  Dr.  Josiah  Strong,  Secretary, 
took  up  the  fight  and  flooded  the  country  with  pamphlets 
bearing  on  it.  The  women  of  the  country  became 
aroused  and  exerted  all  of  their  mighty  influence  against 
Mr.  Roberts.  Miss  Helen  Gould  supplied  the  funds  nec- 
essary to  employ  attorneys  and  for  other  expenses  in 
carrying  on  the  fight.  Conventions,  associations,  con- 
ferences, synods,  presbyteries  and  churches  of  all  denomi- 
nations passed  resolutions  against  the  seating  of  Mr. 
Roberts.  Petition  after  petition  was  sent  to  the  members 
of  Congress  requesting  them  to  vote  against  his  being 
seated.  Public  sentiment  was  never  so  aroused  and  cer- 
tainly never  so  thoroughly  unanimous  upon  any  subject  in 
this  country. 

To  try  to  stem  the  tide  Mr.  Roberts  gave  out  an  inter- 
view about  the  first  of  the  year  1899,  in  which  he  said : 

"Joseph  Smith  received  a  commandment  from  the  Lord 
to  introduce  our  order  of  marriage  into  the  church,  and 


96  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

on  this  strength  of  revelation,  and  not  by  reason  of  any- 
thing that  is  written  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  the  Latter 
Day  Saints  practice  plural  marriages.  Polygamy  is  not 
adultery,  for  if  it  were  so  considered,  then  Abraham, 
Jacob  and  the  prophets  who  practiced  it  would  not  be 
allowed  a  heritance  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  if 
polygamy  is  not  adultery,  then  it  cannot  be  classed  as  a 
sin  at  all.  It  appears  to  me  that  modern  Christians  must 
either  learn  to  tolerate  polygamy  or  give  up  forever  the 
glorious  hope  of  resting  in  Abraham's  bosom. 

'That  which  God  approves,  and  so  strikingly  approves, 
must  be  not  only  not  bad,  but  positively  good,  pure  and 
holy.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  the  hand  of  the 
Gentiles  was  laid  so  heavy  upon  the  people  of  the  Lord 
that  in  his  mercy  God  permitted  them  to  cease  therefrom 
from  expediency,  and  true  to  the  pledges  given  by  the 
church  no  polygamous  marriages  have  since  been  cele- 
brated by  the  church.  But  not  even  the  church  can  take 
away  from  a  man  the  wives  it  has  already  given  him. 
They  are  his  for  time  and  eternity,  and  I  think  that  the 
great,  broad-minded  and  just  people  will  not  require  a 
man  to  cast  off  the  wives  he  has,  with  whom  he  has  lived, 
nor  to  abandon  his  children." 

At  the  most,  Mr.  Roberts  said,  his  offense  was  unlawful 
co-habitation,  and  he  remarked:  "I  am  here  and  the 
courts  are  open.  If  anyone  wants  to  test  the  point,  the 
way  is  clear." 

This  interview  only  added  fuel  to  the  flames.  It  will  be 
seen  that  Mr.  Roberts  not  only  admitted  that  he  was  a 
polygamist,  but  he  defended  polygamy  as  "positively  good, 
pure  and  holy,"  on  the  grounds  that  Joseph  Smith  re- 
ceived it  "as  a  commandment  from  the  Lord."  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  condemn  Christians  who  do  not  believe 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  97 

in  polygamy,  saying  that  they  "must  either  learn  to  toler- 
ate polygamy  or  give  up  the  glorious  hope  of  resting  in 
Abraham's  bosom."  Mr.  Roberts  thus  defied  not  only 
the  Christian  and  moral  sentiment  of  this  country,  but 
also  the  legal  sentiment  as  expressed  in  the  Edmunds- 
Tucker  act,  forbidding  polygamous  marriages,  and  also  as 
embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  his  own  State,  which 
declared  against  such  marriages  as  a  condition  of  the 
admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union. 

I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City  during  the  height  of  the  excite- 
ment in  regard  to  the  Roberts  case,  just  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore the  meeting  of  Congress. 

While  there  I  made  a  special  study  of  the  case.  In  fact, 
that  was  largely  my  purpose  in  going  to  Salt  Lake  City 
at  that  time.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  give  the  result  of 
my  observations  as  to  how  the  case  was  viewed  out  there. 
It  was  the  one  universal  theme  of  conversation.  It  was 
discussed  on  the  streets,  in  the  hotels  and  in  the  stores. 
Wherever  two  or  three  were  gathered  together  in  Salt 
Lake  City  there  was  the  Roberts  case  discussed.  The 
papers  every  day  contained  column  after  column  upon  the 
subject  in  their  news  department  and  usually  had  an  edi- 
torial or  two  about  it  also.  The  almost  universal  opinion 
and  wish  among  non-Mormons,  irrespective  of  party, 
was  that  Roberts  would  be  unseated,  and  there  were  a  good 
many  Mormons  who  felt  the  same  way.  But  the  genuine 
Mormon  stood  by  him  very  earnestly  and  hoped  to  see 
him  seated. 

I  shall  condense  the  arguments  on  both  sides  and  shall 
try  to  consider  them  as  fairly  and  fully  as  practicable. 

First,  then,  the  case  for  Roberts. 

1.  Mr.  Roberts  was  legally  elected,  receiving  a  majority 
of  about  6,000  in  the  State  of  Utah.    (The  population  of 


98  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  State  entitles  it  to  only  one  representative  in  Con- 
gress.) His  credentials  were  perfectly  regular — as  regu- 
lar as  those  of  any  other  member-elect  of  the  Fifty-sixth 
Congress.  His  opponent  did  not  even  contest  the  seat. 
He,  however,  was  himself  a  Mormon. 

2.  Mr.  Roberts  contended  that  all  the  agreement  which 
was  entered  into  between  Utah  and  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  when  the  former  was  admitted  to  state- 
hood was  that  there  should  be  no  more  polygamous  mar- 
riages in  the  future,  and  that  this  agreement  had  been 
faithfully  carried  out  by  the  people  of  Utah. 

3.  He  claimed  that  he  was  elected  as  a  Democrat  by 
Democratic  votes  and  that  nether  the  Mormon  church 
nor  polygamy  had  anything  to  do  with  his  election. 

4.  He  claimed  also  that  he  was  not  guilty  of  polygamy, 
by  which  term  Mr.  Roberts  and  other  Mormons  under- 
stand, not  living  with  more  than  one  wife,  as  other  people 
understand  it  to  mean,  but  marrying  more  than  one 
wife.  He  admitted,  or  at  least  he  had  previously  admitted, 
that  he  was  living  with  three  wives.  But  he  claimed  that 
he  married  them  all  before  the  manifesto  in  1890,  and 
also,  of  course,  before  statehood. 

5.  He  said  that  he  promised  to  be  a  husband  to  them 
and  he  did  not  think  that  it  would  be  just  to  them  for  him 
to  cast  them  off. 

6.  At  the  most  his  offense,  he  claimed,  was  only  a  mis- 
demeanor, under  the  laws  of  Utah,  and  he  could  be  pun- 
ished for  it  before  the  courts,  if  desired. 

7.  Besides,  he  was  no  worse  than  other  men.  If  Miss 
Helen  Gould  and  others  who  were  fighting  him  wanted  to 
punish  immorality,  they  could  find  plenty  of  it  at  their 
own  doors.  It  was  also  intimated,  and  by  some  it  was 
openly  said,  that  Mr.  Roberts  was  no  worse  than  other 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  99 

congressmen.    The  only  difference  was  that  he  took  his 
wives  openly  and  they  took  theirs  secretly. 

As  far  as  I  can  recall,  these  are  all  the  arguments  made 
by  Mr.  Roberts  and  his  friends  in  his  behalf.  Really,  his 
case  seemed  a  strong  one.  Now,  what  were  the  answers 
to  these  arguments?  Let  us  consider  the  case  against 
Roberts. 

i.  It  was  admitted  that  he  was  legally  elected  and  that 
on  their  face  his  credentials  were  all  right. 

2.  It  was  not  admitted,  however,  that  all  the  agreement 
entered  into  between  Utah  and  the  United  States  when 
Utah  was  admitted  to  statehood  was  simply  that  there 
should  be  no  more  polygamous  marriages  in  the  State. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  Mormon 
leaders  on  the  witness  stand  distinctly  interpreted  the 
manifesto  of  President  Woodruff  as  referring  not  only  to 
future  polygamous  marriages,  but  also  to  continued  po- 
lygamous cohabitation.  The  language  of  both  President 
Woodruff  himself  and  also  President  Snow  was  taken 
down  and  lies  before  me  as  I  write.  It  was  shown  also 
that  President  Harrison  in  his  proclamation  of  January  4, 
1893,  expressly  conditioned  the  grant  of  amnesty  to  the 
citizens  of  Utah  upon  "the  faithful  observance  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  against  unlawful  cohabitation,"  not 
against  new  polygamous  marriages,  and  that  President 
Cleveland  repeated  the  same  condition  in  his  proclama- 
tion of  September  24,  1894,  thus  indicating  the  under- 
standing which  the  United  States  Government  had  of  the 
matter.  It  was  also  shown  that  the  Legislature  of  Utah, 
as  an  expression  of  its  good  faith,  passed  a  law  against 
unlawful  cohabitation  as  well  as  against  future  polyga- 
mous marriages.  The  Mormons  claimed  that  this  law  was 
intended  to  be  a  dead  letter.    In  other  words,  it  was  in- 


ioo  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

tended  only  for  foreign  consumption.  Its  purpose  was  to 
deceive  the  people  of  the  United  States  by  making  them 
believe  that  there  was  no  polygamous  cohabitation  being 
practiced  in  the  State,  while  they  would  go  on  practicing 
it  all  the  time,  and  no  one  at  home  would  say  anything 
about  it.  They  were  exceedingly  indignant  at  Mr.  Charles 
Mostyn  Owen,  representative  of  the  New  York  Journal, 
for  exposing  their  deception.  The  very  fact,  however, 
that  the  Legislature  of  Utah  passed  the  law  against  un- 
lawful cohabitation  shows  the  understanding  which  the 
people  of  Utah  had  of  the  compact  made  by  them  with 
the  United  States  Government. 

3.  It  was  admitted  that  Mr.  Roberts  was  nominated  as 
a  Democrat,  but  it  was  not  admitted  that  the  Mormon 
Church  did  not  have  anything  to  do  with  his  election. 
On  the  contrary,  the  following  facts  were  given:  (a) 
Some  of  the  most  prominent  Democrats  in  the  State  were 
among  his  strongest  opponents.  In  fact,  about  every 
Gentile  in  Utah,  Democrat  as  well  as  Republican,  was 
against  him..  Some  of  these  voted  for  him,  but  they 
said  they  did  so  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  question 
of  whether  a  polygamist  could  hold  a  federal  office, 
(b)  The  one  paper  in  the  United  States  which  did  more 
against  Mr.  Roberts  than  any  other  was  a  Democratic 
paper,  the  New  York  Journal,  (c)  The  curious  spec- 
tacle was  presented  of  the  Democratic  organ,  the  Salt 
Lake  Herald,  having  very  little  to  say  about  the  matter, 
and  almost  nothing  in  the  defense  of  Mr.  Roberts,  while 
the  organ  of  the  Mormon  Church,  the  Deseret  Evening 
News  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  case  and  was  the 
recognized  champion  of  Mr.  Roberts,  (d)  When  sev- 
eral years  ago  Mr.  Roberts  fell  out  with  the  church  lead- 
ers and  ran  for  office  without  first  having  obtained  their 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  101 

consent,  he  was  overwhelmingly  defeated,  while  this  time 
he  was  overwhelmingly  elected.  From  this  fact  many  be- 
lieved and  charged  that  the  church  was  back  of  Mr.  Rob- 
erts, and  that  its  purpose  was  to  test  public  sentiment 
upon  the  subject  of  polygamy,  and  if  it  was  found  that 
the  time  was  ripe  for  it,  to  have  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  repeal  the  law  against  unlawful  cohabitation,  and 
.perhaps  also  to  resume  their  new  polygamous  marriages. 
I  am  not  sure  about  this,  but  there  could  be  no  question 
that  the  Mormons  still  believe  in  polygamy;  that  it  is  a 
part  of  their  religion,  as  they  say;  that  many  are  still 
practicing  polygamous  cohabitation;  that  the  manifesto 
of  President  Woodruff  did  not  abolish  the  principle  of 
polygamy,  but  only  suspended  its  practice  for  the  sake  of 
expediency ;  that  there  had  been  at  least  two  polygamous 
marriages  among  the  Mormons  in  the  last  three  years, 
and  that  the  church  had  honored,  rather  than  punished, 
those  who  engaged  in  them.  Putting  all  these  things 
together,  it  certainly  looks  as  if  there  were  some  ground, 
to  say  the  least,  for  the  charge  that  the  Mormon  Church 
was  back  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Roberts. 

4.  Mr.  Roberts  may  not  be  a  polygamist,  as  he  under- 
stands the  word.  But  the  following  facts  would  seem  to 
indicate  it  to  an  ordinary  mind :  (a)  He  has  three  living 
wives.  Their  names  are  Louisa  Roberts,  whom  he  claims 
as  his  legal  wife,  according  to  an  oath  taken  by  him  in 
1895,  and  a  fac  simile  of  which  is  in  my  possession ;  Celia 
Dibble  Robertsr  and  Dr.  Margaret  C.  Shipp  Roberts. 
All  of  these  he  married  after  the  Edmunds  act  of  1882, 
or  certainly  since  the  Congressional  law  of  1862.  (b)  On 
May  1,  1889,  he  was  sentenced  to  a  term  of  imprisonment 
for  living  in  unlawful  cohabitation  with  more  than  one 
wife,  and  served  out  his  term,     (c)  When  he  came  out 


102  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

of  prison  he  showed  his  contempt  for  the  law  by  taking 
a  new  wife,  Dr.  Maggie  C.  Shipp.  Just  when  he  married 
her  is  not  known.  He  claimed  that  he  did  so  before  the 
manifesto  of  President  Woodruff  in  1890.  But  while  he 
was  in  prison  Mr.  Shipp  was  tried,  as  the  records  show, 
for  living  in  unlawful  cohabitation  with  Dr.  Maggie  C. 
Shipp  and  others.  And  it  was  not  until  1897  that  Mrs. 
Shipp  took  the  name  of  Mrs.  Roberts,  (d)  That  he  was 
living  in  unlawful- cohabitation  with  them  is  proven  by 
the  fact  that  in  1895  Celia  Dibble  gave  birth  to  a  child, 
and  on  August  11,  1897,  she  gave  birth  to  what  were 
known  as  the  "famous  twins." 

5.  No  one  demanded  that  Air.  Roberts  cast  off  his  plu- 
ral wives.  Every  one  said  that  he  should  support  them. 
But  it  was  demanded  by  public  sentiment,  as  well  as  by 
decency,  that  he  should  not  continue  living  in  unlawful 
cohabitation  with  them. 

6.  Mr.  Roberts  said  that  his  offense  was  only  a  mis- 
demeanor. That  is  true,  according  to  the  laws  of  Utah. 
But  in  saying  that  he  admitted  that  he  was  a  law  breaker, 
and  the  people  of  this  country  do  not  want  a  constant 
and  flagrant  and  defiant  law  breaker  to  be  a  law  maker  for 
them.  He  was  very  free  to  suggest  that  he  cpuld  be  tried 
in  the  courts  of  Utah  for  the  offense.  But  at  the  same 
time  he  was  very  careful  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  those 
courts.  He  knew  that  there  was  an  indictment  pending 
against  him  for  unlawful  cohabitation,  and  it  was  to 
avoid  that  indictment  that  he  left  Utah  several  months 
before  the  meeting  of  Congress  and  remained  away  until 
his  case  was  disposed  of  in  Washington, 

7.  His  claim  that  he  was  no  worse  than  other  men  did 
not  palliate  his  offense.  And  the  claim  of  his  friends 
that  he  was  no  worse  than  other  Congressmen  was  a  reflec- 


MAN'S  ENDOWMENT  CAP. 


REVEALED  FIG  LEAF  APRON. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  103 

tion  upon  our  Congressmen  which  I  do  not  believe.  That 
may  be  true  of  some  Congressmen,  but  it  is  certainly  not 
true  of  all.  Besides,  their  offense,  if  such  it  be,  is  not 
open  and  flagrant.  If  it  should  become  so  it  would  create 
as  great  a  wave  of  public  indignation  as  existed  against 
Mr.  Roberts,  if  not  greater.  Witness  the  case  of  Col. 
W.  C.  P.  Breckinridge. 

8.  Deny  it,  disguise  it  as  he  might,  the  issue  which  the 
election  of  Mr.  Roberts  forced  upon  the  American  people 
was,  Shall  polygamy  continue  to  be  tolerated  in  this 
country  ? 

In  an  address  is'sued  by  the  Salt  Lake  Ministerial 
Association  to  the  people  of  this  country  these  ministers 
said: 

"If  Mr.  Roberts  is  permitted  to  remain  in  Congress, 
and  we  fail  to  get  a  constitutional  amendment  prohibit- 
ing the  practice  of  polygamy,  this  anti-American  institu- 
tion will  fasten  itself  upon  this  inter-mountain  region, 
whence  it  will  ultimately  spread  throughout  the  country, 
until  some  day  the  American  people  will  have  to  rise  in 
their  might  and  crush  it  in  order  to  prevent  this  nation 
from  crumbling  into  dust.  In  the  meantime  thousands 
of  hearts  will  be  broken  and  multitudes  of  souls  will  be 
sacrificed  to  the  demon  of  deified  lust,  while  the  very  name 
of  this  fair  land  will  come  very  near  becoming  a  reproach 
in  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world." 

From  20,000,000  homes  and  70,000,000  throats  all  over 
the  land  the  cry  came  in  thunder  tones  that  such  a  man, 
representing  such  an  issue,  must  not  be  allowed  to  sit  in 
our  Congressional  halls  and  help  to  make  our  national 
laws. 

When  Congress  met  on  December  4,  1899,  the  most 
prominent   question   before   it   was   as   to  whether   Mr. 


104  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Roberts  should  be  seated  or  not.  When  he  presented 
himself  to  take  the  oath  of  office  his  right  to  do  so  was 
challenged  by  Hon.  Robert  W.  Taylor,  of  Ohio.  By  a 
vote  of  302  to  30  he  was  refused  the  privilege  of  taking 
the  oath,  and  the  case  was  referred  to  a  special  committee 
of  nine  members,  with  Mr.  Taylor  as  chairman.  This 
committee  was  unanimous  against  allowing  him  to  retain 
his  seat.  The  only  question  was  as  to  whether  he  should 
be  excluded  or  sworn  in  and  then  expelled.  Seven  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  favored  exclusion  and  two  expul- 
sion. There  were  strong  arguments  on  both  sides,  but 
by  a  vote  of  268  to  50  the  house  voted  to  exclude  him. 
And  the  fifty  who  voted  for  the  minority  report  were 
not  in  favor  of  allowing  him  to  keep  his  seat.  They  only 
thought  that  it  would  be  better  to  permit  him  to  be  sworn 
in  on  the  face  of  his  credentials,  and  then  to  expel  him. 
So  that  really  he  was  excluded  by  a  unanimous  vote.  This 
shows  the  strength  of  public  sentiment  when  it  is  aroused. 

The  following  extracts  from  an  eloquent  speech  de- 
livered on  the  floor  of  the  House  by  Mr.  Landis,  of  In- 
diana, during  the  discussion  of  the  Roberts  case,  will  be 
of  interest  here :  "Pages  might  be  written  of  the  vio- 
lation of  the  compact  by  which  Utah  was  given  a  star. 
Mr.  Speaker,  that  star  is  a  fallen  star:  it  does  not  shine 
with  the  brilliancy  and  luster  of  her  sister  stars.  It 
shines  by  cunning  and  by  deceit,  by  treachery,  by  fraud. 
It  speaks  of  crime  and  violation  of  the  most  solemn 
covenant  ever  made  between  territory  and  the  union. 
[Applause.]  And  I  charge  here  that  Utah  came  in  as 
the  result  of  a  deliberate  conspiracy  to  free  that  peo- 
ple from  the  heavy  hand  of  the  federal  authority  and  thus 
enable  them  to  live  their  religion  unhindered. 

"The  gentleman  from  Utah,  Mr.  Roberts,  has  been 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  105 

particularly  severe  on  the  missionaries.  I  do  not  won- 
der at  it.  The  missionary  has  given  attention  to  the 
polygamist,  has  stood  in  his  path,  has  scattered  thorns 
along  his  way,  and  for  this  he  is  branded  as  a  spotter, 
an  informer  and  a  spy.  History  will  bear  out  this  state- 
ment, that  although  these  fanatical  priests  and  their  de- 
luded followers  put  a  thousand  miles  of  trackless  wild- 
erness, a  thousand  miles  of  desert  waste,  infested  with 
savages,  between  civilization,  between  their  camp  of 
bigotry  and  crime,  yet  the  distance  was  not  too  great 
nor  were  the  hardships  too  severe  to  daunt  the  spirit  of 
the  missionary  of  the  Christian  Church.  He  tracked 
polygamy  and  faced  it  in  its  lair.  The  Danites,  as  cruel 
and  pitiless  a  band  of  cut-throats  as  ever  handled  the 
glittering  steel,  carried  on  the  murderous  work  of  the 
church.  Still  the  missionary  toiled  on.  The  blood  aton- 
ers  silenced  forever  in  death  the  voice  of  apostacy.  The 
government  practically  abandoned  the  field,  considering 
that  it  was  powerless  to  hinder  that  monster,  fortified 
in  those  mountain  fastnesses ;  but  the  American  Christian 
missionary  with  a  courage  that  now  seems  sublime,  with 
a  fidelity  to  purpose  that  is  now  an  inspiration,  battled 
on  in  the  fear  of  God  and  for  the  love  of  humanity. 
[Applause.] 

"I  will  say  that  the  people  of  this  country  expect  us 
to  turn  him  back,"  said  Mr.  Landis,  in  conclusion.  "I 
protest  against  his  coming  in.  I  protest  on  behalf  of 
a  constituency  that  has  read  the  Ten  Commandments 
and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  I  protest  on  behalf 
of  the  American  homes,  made  beautiful  by  love  and  de- 
votion and  holy  by  the  virtue  of  our  womanhood.  I 
protest  on  behalf  of  the  American  mother  and  her  child 
and  the   American   father   who  will   never   consent  to 


106  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  enthronement  and  deification  of  human  passion,  and 
of  those  doomed  to  illegitimacy.  The  country  is  wait- 
ing for  us  to  act;  from  New  England,  whose  homes 
have  been  made  a  pattern  for  this  continent,  to  way 
down  South  in  Dixie,  where  honor  is  religion,  where 
gallantry  is  law,  and  virtue  is  the  high  ideal  of  beautiful 
womanhood,  States  are  waiting  to-day,  waiting  for  the 
American  chivalry  to   speak."     [Loud   applause.] 

After  his  exclusion  Mr.  Roberts  issued  a  statement 
in  which  he  admitted  that  there  were  at  that  time  "i,543 
polygamous  families  in  the  church  throughout  the 
world" — nearly  all,  of  course,  in  Utah.  He  declared 
that  he  was  "overwhelmed  by  the  force  of  numbers,  but 
not  dismayed,"  and  returned  to  Utah — and  to  his  com- 
plicated domestic  relations.  Mr.  King,  a  Mormon,  but 
not  a  polygamist,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  Soon  after 
his  return  to  Salt  Lake  City,  Mr.  Roberts  was  indicted  for 
living  in  polygamous  cohabitation,  pleaded  not  guilty  and 
was  convicted  and  fined,  but  appealed  his  case  to  a 
higher  court  on  two  grounds:  (i.)  That  he  was 
indicted  for  living  in  unlawful  cohabitation  with 
more  than  one  woman.  But  he  claimed  that  one 
of  them  was  his  legal  wife,  and  so  living  with  her 
was  not  unlawful  cohabitation.  (2.)  That  he  was  indicted 
in  Salt  Lake  County  for  living  in  unlawful  cohabitation 
with  more  than  one  woman.  But  one  of  these  women 
lived  in  another  County,  and  so  he  could  not  be  found 
guilty  in  Salt  Lake  County  of  living  in  unlawful  cohabita- 
tion with  more  than  one  woman.  Such  are  the  subter- 
fuges of  Mormonism. 

This  closes  the  history  of  Mormonism  to  the  present. 
And  what  a  history  it  has  been — a  story  from  beginning 
to  end  of  imposture,  of  fraud,  of  quarrelings,  of  rebel- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  107 

lion,  of  bloodshed,  of  deception,  of  theft,  of  murder — 
in  fact  of  what  the  Apostle  called  the  "works  of  the 
flesh" :  "And  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which 
are  these:  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  Iascivious- 
ness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders, 
drunkenness,  revellings  and  such  like;  of  the  which  I 
tell  you  before,  as  I  have  also  told  you  in  time  past, 
'that  they  which  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God."     (Gal.  v.  19-21.) 

It  is  the  most  shameful,  the  most  dreadful,  the  most 
infamous  history  of  any  people  on  the  face  of  the  globe 
who  profess  to  march  under  the  sacred  banner  of  Prince 
Immanuel,  and  is  perhaps  not  even  excelled  in  infamy 
by  the  history  of  any  heathen  nation. 

And  these  are  the  people  who  are  sending  out  mis- 
sionaries all  over  our  land  to  convert  us  to  their  religion ! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— ITS  DOCTRINE  AS 
TO  GOD— GOD  A  MAN— A  MARRIED  MAN— 
A  POLYGAMIST. 

We  have  been  studying  for  some  time  the  history  of 
Mormonism,  and  we  have  seen  what  an  awful  history 
it  is.  But,  after  all,  the  history  of  any  people  is  only  the 
expression  of  their  principles,  and  it  is  apt  to  be  no  better 
and  no  worse  than  those  principles.  Bad  as  is  the  history 
of  Mormonism,  it  is  simply  the  logical  working  out  of 
the  principles  of  Mormonism.  Let  us  see  what  those 
principles  are.  I  shall  take  their  articles  of  faith,  which 
the  Mormon  missionaries  carry  with  them  and  give  to  all 
who  will  take  a  copy,  and  let  their  own  leaders  and  writers 
expound  them. 

The  first  article  says :  'We  believe  in  God  the  Eternal 
Father,  and  in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost."  That  certainly  sounds  all  right.  But  let  us  see 
what  they  mean  by  it. 

"We  believe  in  God  the  Eternal  Father."  What  kind 
of  a  God?  What  kind  of  a  Father?  This  question  is 
fundamental.  A  person's  conception  of  God  underlies  all 
of  his  theology  and  gives  shape  to  his  own  character  and 
conduct.    I  shall  dwell  awhile  on  this  point. 

The  Bible  conception  of  God  is  a  most  exalted  one.  He 
is  spoken  of  as  infinite,  eternal,  omnipotent,  omniscient, 
pure,  holy,  the  great  I  Am,  the  Most  High,  etc.,  etc. 
Christ  said,  "God  is  Spirit."  The  definition  given  of  him 
by  Dr.  A.  H.  Strong  in  his  Systematic  Theology  is,  "God 

108 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  109 

is  the  infinite  and  perfect  Spirit,  in  whom  all  things  have 
their  source,  support  and  end."  The  Westminster  Cate- 
chism defines  him  as  "A  Spirit,  eternal  and  unchangeable 
in  his  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness 
and  truth."  Dr.  J.  P.  Boyce  says  that  "God's  nature  is 
exclusively  spiritual."  This  is  the  conception  of  God  uni- 
versally held  among  Christians.  What  is  the  Mormon 
conception  of  God? 

1.  They  say  that  God  is  a  man  like  we  are,  a  man  "about 
six  feet  high,"  a  man  with  flesh  and  bones,  though  without 
blood ;  a  man  "with  body,  parts  and  passions,"  to  use  their 
favorite  expression. 

The  Mormon  missionaries,  as  they  go  around,  carry 
with  them  a  little  tract  which  they  offer  to  leave  at  every 
house.  It  is  written,  or  compiled,  by  Mr.  Ben  E.  Rich, 
President  of  the  Mormon  Propaganda  at  Chattanooga.  It 
is  called  "A  Friendly  Discussion  Upon  Religious  Sub- 
jects." It  is  written  in  the  form  of  a  story.  The  scene 
is  laid  in  a  "town  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Tennessee, 
which  we  will  call  Westminster."  The  reference  evidently 
is  to  Winchester.  Several  persons  take  part  in  the  discus- 
sion. The  hero  is  a  "Mr.  Durant  of  Salt  Lake  City."  Mr. 
Durant  is  simply  a  Mormon  elder.  He  represents  Mor- 
monism,  and  of  course  tries  to  uphold  its  principles.  The 
first  point  which  he  attempts  to  prove  is  that  God  has  a 
body,  and  that  he  has  "parts  and  passions."  His  argu- 
ment is  based  upon  some  passages  of  Scripture  which 
speak  of  God  as  speaking  face  to  face  with  Moses,  and 
as  having  mouth,  eyes,  lips  and  tongue,  etc.  Many  other 
such  passages  might  have  been  quoted  besides  those  given 
by  Mr.  Durant.  They  are  all  evidently  used  in  what  the 
theologians  call  an  anthropomorphic  sense — that  is,  they 
speak  of  God  as  being  in  the  form  of  a  man,  as  "an  accom- 


no  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

modation  to  human  thoughts,  and  to  the  incapacity  of 
human  language  to  express  exclusively  divine  things." 
(Boyce).  All  Christians  so  understand  them.  But  the 
Mormons  take  them  in  a  literal,  material  sense,  and  base 
their  whole  conceptions  of  God  and  their  whole  system  of 
theology,  and  indeed  their  whole  conduct,  upon  them. 

Mr.  Durant  closes  his  argument  on  this  point  by  saying : 

''And  as  for  passions  we  are  told  in  the  Bible  that  he 
(God)  exercises  love  and  is  a  jealous  God.  Are  these 
not  parts  and  passions?  It  would  appear  that  all  who 
believe  in  the  Scriptures  must  conclude  that  they  are  parts 
and  passions,  and  that  the  Creator  is  a  God  after  whose 
likeness  we  are  made." 

These  views  of  "Mr.  Durant  of  Salt  Lake  City,"  revolt- 
ing as  they  are  to  all  our  ideas  about  God,  are  the  viewa 
of  every  Mormon,  as  indicated  over  and  over  again.  "Mr, 
Durant"  is  only  a  nom  de  plume  for  Mr.  Ben  E.  Rich, 
President  of  the  Mormon  Propaganda  in  the  South,  with 
headquarters  in  Chattanooga,  and  so  his  utterances  are 
official. 

But  there  is  plenty  of  other  evidence  on  this  point, 
The  Mormon  Catechism  says : 

"What  kind  of  a  being  is  God  ?" 

"He  is  in  the  form  of  a  man." 

"How  do  you  learn  this  ?" 

"The  Scriptures  declare  that  man  was  made  in  the  im- 
age of  God." 

"Have  you  any  further  proof  of  God's  being  in  the 
form  of  a  man  ?" 

"Yes.  Jesus  Christ  was  in  the  form  of  a  man,  and  he 
was  at  the  same  time  in  the  image  of  God's  person." 

"Is  it  not  said  that  God  is  a  Spirit?" 

"Yes.    The  Scriptures  say  so." 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  m 

"How  then  can  God  be  like  man?" 
"Man  has  a  spirit,  though  clothed  with  a  body,  and 
God  is  similarly  constituted." 
"Has  God  a  body  then?" 
"Yes ;  like  unto  man's  body  in  figure." 
"Is  God  everywhere  present?" 
"Yes.    He  is  in  all  parts  of  the  universe." 
"If  God  is  a  person  how  can  He  be  everywhere  pres- 
ent?" 

"His  person  cannot  be  in  more  than  one  place  at^  a 
time ;  but  he  is  everywhere  present  by  His  Holy  Spirit." 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  God  the  Father  taught  to  Mor- 
mon children,  and  believed  by  every  true  Mormon. 

Orson  Spencer,  a  prominent  Mormon  elder,  and  per- 
haps the  most  learned  man  they  have  ever  had,  whose 
writings  are  especially  commended  by  Geo.  Q.  Cannon, 
said  in  a  series  of  letters  to  Rev.  William  Crowell,  then 
editor  of  the  Watchman,  of  Boston,  which  letters  have 
since  been  published  in  book  form : 

"We  believe  that  God  is  a  being  that  has  both  body  and 
parts  and  also  passions.     ...     A  very  general  con- 
viction concerning  the  character  of  God  now  is  that  he  is 
a  being  without  body  or  parts  or  passions.    A  greater  ab- 
surdity cannot  be  furnished  in  all  the  annals  of  heathen- 
ism.    Even  images  of  wood  and  brass  and  stone  are 
scarcely  more  remote  from  the  picture  of  the  true  God 
than  the  theory  of  a  passionless,  matterless  God.    .     .     . 
The  New  Testament  tells  us  what  his  body  is  like.    It  is  so 
nearly  and  exactly  like  the  body  of  Christ  that  there  is  no 
difference.    Paul  says  that  Christ  was  the  express  image 
of  his  person.    It  is  then  beyond  all  dispute  that  the  body 
and  person  of  Jesus  Christ    and    the  Father  are  alike. 
One  is  the  express  image  of  the  other.    If  one 


1 12  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

has  a  fleshy,  material  body,  the  other  has.  If  one  resem- 
bles in  stature  the  seed  of  the  woman,  the  other  wears  the 
same  resemblance.  ...  If  one,  wearing  a  body  of 
flesh  and  bones,  in  all  points  like  unto  his  brethren,  is 
capable  of  holding  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  also 
of  displaying  the  brightness  of  celestial  glory,  the  other 
can  do  the  same  in  a  similar  body  of  flesh  and  bones.  He 
declares  that  he  has  given  us  an  image  and  likeness  of 
himself  in  the  person  of  man." 

One  of  the  standard  Mormon  works  is  called  '"Key 
to  the  Science  of  Theology,"  written  by  Parley  P.  Pratt, 
who  was  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  but  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  killed  by  Mr.  McLean  because  of  his  having  run 
off  with  McLean's  wife.  In  it  Mr.  Pratt  speaks  of  God 
as  "not  only  possessing  body  and  parts,  but  flesh  and 
bones  and  sinews  and  all  the  attributes,  organs,  senses  and 
affections  of  a  perfect  man."    (Key  to  Theology,  p.  40.) 

He  says  again : 

"Each  of  these  Gods,  including  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Father,  being  in  possession  of  not  merely  an  organized 
spirit,  but  a  glorious  immortal  body  of  flesh  and  bones,  is 
subject  to  the  laws  which  govern,  of  necessity,  even  the 
most  refined  order  of  physical  existence."  (Key  to  The- 
ology, p.  44.) 

Again : 

"It  is,  therefore,  an  absolute  impossibility  for  God  the 
Father  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  everywhere  personally  pres- 
ent."   (Key  to  Theology,  p.  45.) 

The  book  of  Mormon  says : 

"And  the  veil  was  taken  from  off  the  eyes  of  the  brother 
of  Jared,  and  he  saw  the  finger  of  the  Lord ;  and  it  was 
as  the  finger  of  a  man,  like  unto  flesh  and  blood.  I  saw  the 
finger  of  the  Lord,  and  I  feared  that  He  would  smite  me ; 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  113 

for  I  knew  not  that  the  Lord  had  flesh  and  blood."    (Book 
of  Mormon,  Ether,  1 :8.) 

The  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  another  "inspired"  book 
of  the  Mormons,  says : 

"The  Father  has  a  body  of  flesh  and  blood  as  tangible 
as  man's;  the  Son  also."    (Sec.  130;  22.) 
Joseph  Smith  said  in  a  sermon : 

"God  himself  was  once  as  we  are  now,  and  is  an  exalted 
man,  and  sits  enthroned  in  yonder  heavens.    That  is  the 
great  secret.''    (Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  3.) 
And  again,  in  the  same  sermon : 

"It  is  the  first  principle  of  the  gospel  to  know  that  he 
was  once  a  man  like  us ;  yea  that  God  himself,  the  Father 
of  us  all,  dwelt  on  an  earth  the  same  as  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self did." 
And  again : 

"In  the  beginning  the  head  God  called  a  council  of  the 
Gods ;  and  they  came  together  and  concocted  a  plan  to 
create  the  world  and  people  it.  When  we  begin  to  learn  in 
this  way  we  begin  to  learn  the  only  true  God,  and  what 
kind  of  a  being  we  have  got  to  worship." 
Again  he  said : 

"There  is  no  other  God  in  heaven  but  that  God  who  has 
flesh  and  bones."    (Compendium,  p.  287.) 

One  of  the  principal  arguments  used  by  the  Mormons 
to  prove  that  God  is  a  man,  "with  body,  parts  and  pas- 
sions," is  as  follows :  After  his  resurrection  Christ  had  a 
body,  with  flesh  and  bones.  He  could  eat,  could  be 
handled.  He  ascended  to  the  Father  and  the  angels  said 
to  the  disciples  that  "this  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up 
from  you  into  heaven  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye 
have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."  (Acts  I  :u.)  "In  like 
manner"  they  understand  to  mean  with  the  same  body. 


1 14  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

But  (1)  God  the  Bather  was  never  incarnated.  (2)  He  is 
called  a  Spirit.  (John,  iv.  24.)  Christ  said  that  a  "Spirit 
has  not  flesh  and  bones."  (Luke,  xxiv.  39.)  (3)  "No  man 
hath  seen  God  at  any  time.,,  (John  1  :i8.)  (4)  "The 
Word"— Christ,  the  expression  of  God— became  flesh." 
(John  1  :i4.)    He  was  not  flesh  until  he  became  incarnate. 

(5)  "Being  in  the  form  of  God  ...  he  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  men."  (Phil.  ii.  6,7.)  Evidently  "the 
form  of  God"  is  not  the  same  as  "the  likeness  of  men." 

(6)  The  image  of  God,  to  which  Christ  restores  us,  is  a 
spiritual  not  a  physical  image.  The  new  man  is  "created 
after  God  in  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth"  (Eph. 
iv.  24),  not  in  body.  (7)  To  say  that  God  has  a  spiritual 
body  is  to  say  that  he  is  partly  spiritual  and  partly  physical, 
and  so  is  to  make  him  more  or  less  material,  when  he  is 
declared  by  Christ  to  be  simply  "a  Spirit."  (8)  The 
expression  "in  like  manner"  in  Acts  1  :n  does  not  refer 
to  his  coming  with  a  body,  but  to  the  manner  of  his  com- 
ing— suddenly,  mysteriously,  in  the  clouds. 

2.  Believing  that  God  is  a  man  with  "body,  parts  and 
passions"  they  think  that  he  is  a  married  man.  They 
understand  the  "parts  and  passions"  as  referring  to  the 
organs  of  generation,  as  well  as  to  different  emotions. 

3.  They  believe  that  he  is  a  polygamist,  with  a  harem 
full  of  wives. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— ITS  DOCTRINE  AS 
TO  GOD— GOD  WAS  ADAM— MANY  GODS. 

4.  But  not  only  do  the  Mormons  believe  that  God  is 
a  man.  They  believe  that  he  was  Adam,  and  in  this  sense 
is  the  Father  of  the  human  race.  Or,  to  put  it  another 
way,  they  believe  that  Adam  was  God,  and  that  God  is 
thus  the  father  of  all  men  in  the  sense  of  physical  pro- 
creation, and  that  in  this  sense  also  he  is  the  Father  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Joseph  Smith  spoke  of  "Michael,  or  Adam,  the  father 
of  all,  the  prince  of  all,  the  ancient  of  days."  (Doctrine 
and  Covenants,  Sec.  27:11.) 

In  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  tabernacle  at  Salt  Lake 
City,  April  9,  1852,  Brigham  Young  emphasized  this  doc- 
trine.    He  said : 

"Now  hear  it,  O  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, saint  and  sinner !  When  our  father  Adam  came  into 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  he  came  into  it  with  a  celestial  body, 
and  brought  Eve,  one  of  his  wives,  with  him.  He  helped 
to  make  and  organize  this  world.  He  is  Michael  the  Arch- 
angel, the  ancient  of  Days!  about  whom  holy  men  have 
written  and  spoken.  He  is  our  Father  and  our  God,  and 
the  only  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  Every  man  upon 
the  earth,  professing  Christians  or  non-professing,  must 
hear  it  and  will  know  sooner  or  later."  (Journal  of  Dis- 
courses, Vol.  1,  p.  50.) 

And  again : 

"When  the  virgin  Mary  conceived  the  child  Jesus,  the 
Father  had  begotten  him  in  his  own  likeness.    He  was  not 

"5 


n6  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

begotten  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  who  is  the  Father  ?  He 
is  the  first  of  the  human  family."  (Journal  of  Discourses, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  50,  Sermon  by  Brigham  Young.)  Many  Mor- 
mons still  believe  this  doctrine  of  Brigham  Young  that 
Adam  was  God,  and  that  he  came  down  to  earth  and 
"brought  Eve,  one  of  his  wives,  with  him,"  and  so  peopled 
the  world. 

With  such  a  view  of  God,  physical  and  limited,  it  is 
but  natural  that  the  Mormons  should  repudiate  the  Bible 
narrative  of  creation.  In  another  sermon  delivered  in 
the  Tabernacle,  Oct.  3,  1853,  Brigham  Young  said  : 

"You  believe  Adam  was  made  of  the  dust  of  the  earth. 
This  I  do  not  believe.  You  can  write  that  information 
to  the  States,  if  you  please— that  I  have  publicly  declared 
that  I  do  not  believe  that  portion  of  the  Bible  as  the  Chris- 
tian world  do.  I  never  did,  and  I  never  want  to.  Because 
I  have  come  to  understanding  and  banished  from  my  mind 
all  the  baby  stories  my  mother  taught  me  when  I  was  a 
child." 

Brigham  Young  was  at  this  time  the  prophet  of  the 
church,  the  mouthpiece  of  God,  and  so  was  believed  to 
speak  by  inspiration.  Later  on  the  Apostle  Heber  C.  Kim- 
ball announced  that  Brigham  Young  himself  was  God ! 

The  Mormon  Catechism  has  this  question  and  answer: 

"Was  the  earth  originally  formed  out  of  nothing? 

"Answer.  No.  The  elements  of  which  it  was  organ- 
ized always  existed."     (Catechism,  p.  22.) 

One  of  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  says:  "The 
elements  are  eternal."  By  creation  they  mean  transforma- 
tion or  modification  only. 

5.  But  the  Mormons  not  only  believe  that  God  is  a 
man  with  "parts  and  passions,"  thus  degrading  him  into 
a  low,  material,  sensual  being;  they  not  only  believe  that 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  117 

he  is  a  married  man  and  a  polygamist ;  they  not  only  be- 
lieve that  he  was  Adam,  and  Adam  was  God,  thus  making 
him  man  in  a  very  tangible  sense,  and  at  the  same  time 
limiting  and  degrading  his  powers,  but  they  believe  that 
there  are  many  Gods.  They  are  not  monotheists,  but 
polytheists,  believing  in  a  plurality  of  Gods,  and  that  Gods 
were  once  men  who  afterwards  became  Gods.  If  this  be 
doubted  the  proof  is  at  hand.  The  Mormon  Cathechism 
asks:  "Are  there  more  Gods  than  one?"  Answer,  "Yes, 
many."  The  next  question  is,  "Must  we  worship  more 
than  one  God  ?"  Answer,  "No.  To  us  there  is  but  one 
God,  the  Father  of  mankind,  and  the  creator  of  the  earth." 
But  the  emphasis  in  the  question  is  on  the  word  worship. 
Their  idea  is  there  is  only  one  God  whom  we  must  wor- 
ship, but  there  are  many  Gods.  Other  questions  in  the 
Catechism  which  are  asked  with  reference  to  the  creation 
are,  "What  did  the  Gods  do  on  the  second  day?"  "What 
did  the  Gods  do  on  the  third  day?"  etc.  The  creation  of 
the  world,  they  say,  was  not  the  work  of  one  God,  but  of 
many  Gods  unitedly. 

"The  Pearl  of  Great  Price,"  a  Mormon  text  book,  says  : 

"And  they  went  down  at  the  beginning,  and  they  or- 
ganized and  formed  (that  is,  the  Gods)  the  heavens  and 
earth.  .  .  .  And  they  (the  Gods)  said,  Let  there 
be  light,  and  there  was  light." 

Key  to  Theology,  by  Parley  P.  Pratt,  another  text  book, 
says: 

"A  General  Assembly,  Quorum  or  Grand  Council  of 
the  Gods,  with  their  President  at  their  head,  constitute 
the  designing  and  creating  power." 

Again : 

"Gods,  angels  and  men  are  all  of  one  species,  one  race, 
one  great  family,  widely  diffused  among  the  planetary 
system,  as  colonies,  kingdoms,  nations,  etc." 


1 18  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

And  again : 

"All  these  are  Gods,  or  sons  of  God ;  they  are  the  Kings, 
Princes,  Priests  and  Nobles  of  Eternity.  But  over  them 
all  there  is  a  Presidency  or  Grand  Head,  who  is  the  Father 
of  all.  And  next  unto  him  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  eldest  born, 
and  first  heir  of  all  the  realms  of  light.  ...  By  con- 
sent and  authority  of  the  Head  any  one  of  these  Gods  may 
create,  organize,  people,  govern,  control,  exalt,  glorify, 
and  enjoy  worlds  on  worlds,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof." 

Joseph  Smith  said  in  a  sermon : 

'The  Head  God  called  together  the  Gods  and  sat  in 
Grand  Council  to  bring  forth  the  world."     (Vol.  VI., 

P.  50 
Again  he  said : 

"To  us  there  is  but  one  God — that  is,  pertaining  to  us ; 
and  he  is  in  all  and  through  all.  ...  I  say  there 
are  Gods  many,  and  Lords  many,  but  to  us  only  one,  and 
we  are  to  be  in  subjection  to  that  one." 

Mr.  Roberts,  in  his  "New  Witness  for  God,"  expressed 
the  opinion  that — 

"If  the  phrase  'Grand  Presidency'  be  substituted  for 
Godhead,  and  'President'  for  God,  we  shall  have  a  nomen- 
clature that  will  better  convey  correct  ideas  to  the  mind 
respecting  the  Gods  than  that  now  in  common  use." 


REFORMED    EGYPTIAN,    IN    WHICH    JOSEPH     SMITH    CLAIMED 
THE    GOLDEN    PLATES   WERE    WRITTEN 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— ITS  DOCTRINE  AS 
TO  GOD— MEN  MAY  BECOME  GODS. 

6.  Not  only  do  the  Mormons  teach  that  there  are 
many  Gods  who  were  once  men  and  afterwards  became 
Gods,  but  they  teach  also  that  men  now  may  become 
Gods.  Joseph  Smith,  in  the  sermon  quoted  from  in  the 
last  chapter,  said : 

"And  you  have  got  to  learn  how  to  be  Gods  yourselves, 
the  same  as  all  Gods  have  done  before  you." 

To  secure  this  multiplication  of  Gods  by  procreation 
every  Mormon  becomes  a  God.     Said  Parley  P.  Pratt: 

"But  every  man  who  is  eventually  made  perfect,  raised 
from  the  dead,  and  filled  or  quickened  with  a  fullness 
of  celestial  glory,  will  become  like  them  in  every  respect, 
physically  and  in  intellect,  attributes  or  powers. 

"The  very  germs  of  these  godlike  attributes,  being 
engendered  in  man,  the  offspring  of  Deity,  only  need 
cultivating,  improving,  developing  and  advancing  by 
means  of  a  series  of  progressive  changes,  in  order  to 
arrive  at  the  fountain  head,  the  standard,  the  climax  of 
Divine  humanity."     (Key  to  Theology,  pp.  40,  41.) 

The  difference  between  Gods  and  angels  and  men  is 
thus  described  by  Mr.  Pratt: 

"An  immortal  man,  possessing  a  perfect  organization 
of  spirit,  flesh  and  bones,  and  perfected  in  his  attributes, 
in  all  the  fullness  of  celestial  glory,  is  called  a  God. 

"An  immortal  man,  in  progress  of  perfection,  or  quick- 
ened with  a  lesser  degree  of  glory,  is  called  an  Angel. 

119 


120  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"An  immortal  spirit  of  man,  not  united  with  a  fleshy 
tabernacle,  is  called  a  Spirit. 

An  immortal  man,  clothed  witn  a  mortal  tabernacle, 
is  called  a  Man." 

Again  he  said: 

"The  great  family  of  man,  comprising  the  inhabitants 
of  unnumbered  millions  of  worlds  in  every  variety  and 
degree  of  progress,  consists  of  five  principal  spheres 
or  grand  divisions  in  the  scale  of  progressive  beings,  viz. : 

"First.  The  Gods,  composed  of  embodied  spirits,  who 
inhabit  tabernacles  of  immortal  flesh  and  bones  in  their 
most  refined  stage,  and  who  are  perfected  in  all  the  at- 
tributes of  intelligence  and  power. 

"Second.  The  Angels,  who  are  also  composed  of  spir- 
its and  immortal  flesh  and  bones,  less  refined,  and  en- 
dowed with  vast  intelligence  and  power,  but  not  a  full- 
ness. 

"Third.  Embodied  Spirits  without  a  tabernacle  of  flesh 
and  bones.  These  are  they  who  have  passed  the  veil  of 
death,  and  are  awaiting  a  resurrection. 

"Fourth.  Embodied  Spirits,  with  mortal  tabernacles, 
as  in  the  present  world. 

"Fifth.  Embodied  Spirits,  who  have  not  yet  descended 
to  be  clothed  upon  with  mortality,  but  who  are  candi- 
dates for  the  same." 

By  faithful  attention  to  duty  in  each  state,  these  per- 
sons may  rise  from  one  scale  of  being  to  another,  so 
that  ultimately  a  man  may  become  a  God.  It  is  simply 
the  old  Buddhist  theory  of  the  transmigration  of  souls 
engrafted  on  to  the  Mormon  system. 

It  is  the  highest  aspiration  of  every  Mormon  to  become 
a  god.  They  say  that  Abraham,  and  Moses,  and  Joseph 
Smith,  and  Brigham  Young,  and  all  who  like  them  have 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  121 

been  faithful  and  obedient,  are  now  actually  gods;  and 
after  the  resurrection,  when  they  shall  have  resumed 
their  bodies,  and  their  families  shall  also  have  arisen, 
they  shall  be  entirely  and  in  all  respects  like  the  god 
they  worship,  in  power,  dominion,  honor,  and  glory, 
save  only  that  their  kingdoms  shall  be  less  extensive — each 
one's  kingdom  in  eternity  being  limited  by  the  number 
of  his  wives  and  descendants  in  this  life. 

Joseph  Smith,  in  his  revelation  on  the  "Eternity  of 
the  Marriage  Covenant,"  says  of  those  that  live  up  to 
the  Mormon  law  of  polygamy: 

"Then  shall  they  become  gods,  because  they  have  no 
end;  therefore  shall  they  be  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting, because  they  continue;  then  shall  they  be  above 
all,  because  all  things  are  subject  unto  them,  then  shall 
they  be  gods,  because  they  have  all  power,  and  the  angels 
are  subject  unto  them. 

"They  shall  pass  by  the  angels,  and  the  gods  which 
are  set  there. 

"Abraham  received  concubines,  and  they  bear  him  chil- 
dren, and  it  was  accounted  unto  him  for  righteousness, 
because  they  were  given  unto  him,  and  he  abode  in  my 
law ;  as  Isaac  also,  and  Jacob  did  none  other  things  than 
that  which  they  were  commanded ;  and  because  they  did 
none  other  things  than  that  which  they  were  commanded, 
they  have  entered  into  their  exaltation  according  to  the 
promises,  and  sit  upon  thrones,  and  are  not  angels,  but 
are  gods."  (Doctrine  and  Covenants.  132:19,  20,  37; 
76:58.) 

But  this  exaltation  depends  upon  the  creation  of  a 
kingdom  of  souls  by  procreation.  The  book  of  Doctrine 
and  Covenants  says : 

"In  the  celestial  glory  there  are  three  heavens  or  de- 


122  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

grees,  and  in  order  to  obtain  the  highest  a  man  must  en- 
ter into  this  order  of  the  priesthood  (meaning  the  new 
and  everlasting  covenant  of  marriage)  ;  and  if  he  does 
not  he  can  not  obtain  it."     (Sec.  131;  1-3.) 

And  the  Key  to  Theology  says: 

"Again  it  follows,  .  .  .  that  by  consent  and  au- 
thority of  the  Head  any  one  of  these  gods  may  create, 
organize,  people,  control,  exalt,  glorify  and  enjoy  worlds 
on  worlds  and  the  inhabitants  thereof ;  or  in  other  words, 
each  of  them  can  find  room  in  the  infinitude  of  space, 
and  unoccupied  chaotic  elements  in  the  boundless  store- 
house of  eternal  riches  with  which  to  erect  for  himself 
thrones,  principalities  and  powers,  in  which  to  reign  in 
still  increasing  might,  majesty  and  dominion  forever 
and  ever." 

Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts,  the  polygamous  Congressman-elect 
from  Utah,  has  discussed  this  whole  question  some- 
what at  length  in  his  "New  Witness  for  God";  and  as 
he  expresses  the  latest  Mormon  views  on  the  subject, 
and  on  account  of  the  interest  which  attaches  at  pres- 
ent to  anything  he  says,  I  will  quote  rather  freely  from 
him: 

"The  prophet  [Joseph  Smith]  also  taught  that  the  re- 
lationships formed  in  this  life  were  intended  to  be  eter- 
nal, not  excluding  that  of  husband  and  wife  with  all 
its  enduring  affections.  He  taught  that  the  marriage 
covenant  which  binds  man  and  woman  as  husband  and 
wife  should  be  made  for  eternity,  and  not  until  'death 
doth  them  part.'  To  be  made  for  eternity,  however,  the 
marriage  covenant  must  be  entered  into  with  that  ob- 
ject in  view,  and  sealed  and  ratified  by  God's  authority 
on  earth — even  by  the  holy  priesthood,  that  authority 
which  binds  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  in  time  and  in  eter- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  .123 

nity,  which  also  looses  on  earth  and  in  heaven — in  time 
and  in  eternity.  Otherwise  such  covenants  are  of  no 
efficacy,  virtue  or  force  in  and  after  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  The  house  of  God  is  a  house  of  order, 
and  it  is  useless  to  hope  that  covenants  made  until  death 
shall  overtake  the  contracting  parties  will  endure  in 
eternity;  or  that  covenants  entered  into  for  eternity, 
unless  sealed  by  the  authority  of  God,  will  be  of  bind- 
ing force  in  and  after  the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

"I  wish  to  be  perfectly  understood  here.  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  taught  that 
man,  that  is,  his  spirit,  is  the  offspring  of  Deity;  not 
in  any  mystical  sense,  but  actually;  that  man  has  not 
only  a  Father  in  Heaven,  but  a  Mother  also.  And  when 
I  say  that  the  prophet  taught  that  the  resurrection  is  a 
reality,  that  the  relationship  of  husband  and  wife  is 
intended  to  be  eternal,  together  with  all  its  endearing 
affections,  I  mean  all  that  in  its  most  literal  sense.  I 
mean  that  in  the  life  to  come  man  will  build  and  in- 
habit, eat,  drink,  associate  and  be  happy  with  his  friends ; 
and  that  the  power  of  endless  increase  will  contribute 
to  the  power  and  dominion  of  those  who  attain  by  their 
righteousness  unto  these  privileges. 

"What  a  revelation  is  here !  As  I  have  remarked  else- 
where, instead  of  the  God  given  power  of  procreation 
being  one  of  the  chief  things  that  is  to  pass  away,  it 
is  one  of  the  chief  means  of  man's  exaltation  and  glory 
in  that  great  eternity,  which  like  an  endless  vista  stretches 
out  before  him!  Through  it  man  attains  to  the  glory 
of  endless  increase  of  eternal  lives,  and  the  right  of  pre- 
siding as  priest  and  patriarch,  king  and  lord  over  his 
ever  increasing  posterity.  Instead  of  the  commandment, 
'Be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth/  be- 


124  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ing  an  unrighteous  law,  it  is  one  by  means  of  which  the 
race  of  the  Gods  is  perpetuated,  and  is  as  holy  and 
pure  as  the  commandment,  'Repent  and  be  baptized/ 
Through  that  law,  in  connection  with  an  observance  of 
all  the  other  laws  of  the  gospel,  man  will  yet  attain  unto 
the  power  of  the  Godhead,  and  like  his  father — God — 
his  chief  glory  will  be  to  bring  to  pass  the  eternal  life 
and  happiness  of  his  posterity. 

"If  any  one  shall  say  that  such  views  of  the  life  to 
come  are  too  materialistic;  that  they  smack  too  much 
of  earth  and  its  enjoyments,  my  answer  is,  that  if  it 
be  inquired  what  thing  has  contributed  most  to  man's 
civilization  and  refinement,  to  his  happiness  and  dignity, 
his  true  importance,  elevation  and  honor  in  life,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  domestic  relations  in  marriage,  the 
ties  of  family,  of  parentage,  with  its  joys,  responsibilities 
and  affections  will  be  selected  as  the  one  thing  before 
all  others.  And  those  relations  and  associations  which 
have  contributed  so  much  to  man's  true  progress  and 
refinement  in  this  world  may  be  trusted  not  to  degrade 
him  in  the  life  that  is  to  come.  On  the  contrary,  with 
all  the  affections  chastened,  with  all  the  qualities  of 
the  mind  improved  and  the  attributes  of  the  soul  strength- 
ened, we  may  reasonably  hope  that  what  has  done  so 
much  for  man  in  this  life  will  contribute  still  more  abun- 
dantly to  his  happiness,  his  exaltation  and  glory  in  the 
life  which  is  to  come. 

"One  other  point  I  must  not  omit  to  mention.  I  know 
how  like  sacrilege  it  sounds  in  modern  ears  to  speak  of 
man  becoming  a  God.  Yet  why  should  it  be  so  consid- 
ered? Man  is  the  offspring  of  Deity,  he  is  of  the  same 
race,  and  has  within  him — undeveloped,  it  is  true — -the 
faculties  and  attributes  of  his  Father.     He  has  also  be- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  125 

fore  him  an  eternity  of  time  in  which  to  develop  both 
the  faculties  of  mind  and  the  attributes  of  the  soul — 
why  should  it  be  accounted  a  strange  thing  that  at  last 
the  child  shall  arrive  at  the  same  exaltation  and  partake 
of  the  same  intelligence  and    glory    with    his    Father? 

"If  Jesus  Christ,  'Being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought 
it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God/  why  should  it  be 
considered  blasphemous  to  teach  that  man  by  faith  and 
righteousness  in  following  the  counsels  of  God,  shall  at 
last  become  like  him  and  share  his  power  and  glory,  be- 
ing a  God,  even  a  son  of  God?"  (New  Witness  for 
God,  pp.  460-463.) 

Again  Mr.  Roberts  wrote : 

"All  these  sayings  give  us  reason  to  believe  that  man 
may  become  as  Christ  and  God  are;  that  he  may  walk 
in  their  footsteps,  become  like  them  and  inherit  the  same 
glory  with  them.  The  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  corrected 
the  idea  that  God  that  now  is  was  always  God."  (p.  465.) 

"But  if  God  the  Father  was  not  always  God,  but 
came  to  his  present  exalted  position  by  degrees  of  prog- 
ress as  indicated  by  the  teachings  of  the  prophet,  how 
has  there  been  a  God  from  all  eternity?  The  answer 
is  that  there  has  been  and  there  now  exists  an  endless 
line  of  Gods,  stretching  back  into  the  eternities,  that  had 
no  beginning  and  will  have  no  end. 

"Their  existence  runs  parallel  with  endless  duration, 
and  their  dominions  are  as  limitless  as  boundless  space" 
(p.  466). 

"These  conceptions  of  man's  origin  and  future  devel- 
opment and  glory  involve  the  idea  of  a  plurality  of  Gods 
— a  doctrine  somewhat  startling,  perhaps,  to  modern  ears, 
since  men  in  our  times  have  been  taught  to  look  upon 
it  as  a  sacrilege  to  speak  or  think  of  more  than  one 


126  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

God.  But  since  Christianity  finds  itself  so  far  separated 
from  other  truths  of  the  gospel  may  it  not  find  itself 
wrong  in  this?  What  means  that  expression  in  Genesis 
where,  speaking  of  the  creation  of  man,  God  is  repre- 
sented as  saying:  'Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  after 
our  likeness?'  Is  it  not  a  fair  inference  that  he  ad- 
dressed himself  to  other  Gods  who  were  present?  In 
the  account  of  the  creation  given  in  the  book  of  Abra- 
ham the  plural  is  used  throughout — 'And  the  Gods  pre- 
pared the  earth  to  bring  forth  the  living  creatures/ 

"And  the  Gods  took  council  among  themselves  and 
said,  'Let  us  go  down  and  form  man  in  our  image,  after 
our  likeness,'  etc."  (p.  467.) 

Again  I  quote  from  Mr.  Roberts: 

"Joseph  Smith  has  revealed  the  great  truth  that  in 
the  beginningless  duration  there  has  existed  always  an 
endless  succession  of  exalted  men,  called  Gods."  (New 
Witness  for  God,  p.  474.) 

And  again: 

"As  the  glory  of  earthly  parents  is  increased  by  hav- 
ing beautiful,  intelligent  children,  capable  of  attaining 
to  the  same  intelligence,  development  and  standing  as 
the  parents,  so  the  glory  of  the  heavenly  parent — God 
— is  added  unto  by  having  sons  who  shall  attain  unto 
the  same  honor  and  exaltation  as  himself,  who  shall  be 
worthy  of  sharing  his  power  and  glory  and  everlasting 
dominion."     (New  Witness  for  God,  p.  475.) 

In  these  quotations  from  Mr.  Roberts  it  is  distinctly 
taught:  (1)  That  the  marriage  relation  will  exist  in 
heaven;  (2)  Provided  the  marriage  is  performed  by  a 
Mormon  priest;  (3)  That  man  may  become  God;  (4) 
That  God  himself  was  once  a  man,  and  became  a  God 
by  degrees  of  progress,  as  indicated  in  the  teachings 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  127 

of  the  prophet  [Joseph  Smith] — that  is,  by  marriage 
and  by  begetting  numerous  children;  (5)  That  there 
is  a  plurality  of  Gods.  Could  blasphemy  go  further? 
And  this  is  the  kind  of  God  the  Mormons  believe  in! 
How  low,  how  degrading  their  conception  of  God ! 

Dr.  Osborn  well  says : 

"Such  is  the  doctrine  of  God,  as  held  among  the  Mor- 
mons. The  moral  character  of  a  people  cannot  rise  above 
that  of  the  deity  they  worship.  Is  it  strange  that  a 
people  believing  in  such  a  God — a  being  with  a  body 
and  passions  like  man,  living  in  marital  relations  and 
carnal  connections  with  innumerably  more  wives  than 
could  enter  the  vastest  seraglio  ever  pictured  in  the  wild- 
est dreams  of  the  most  voluptuous  Mohammedan;  the 
father  of  the  human  race,  not  by  creation,  but  by  natural 
physical  generation;  identical  with  the  first  of  the  hu- 
man family,  who  gave  to  all  men,  by  natural  descent 
from  him,  a  sinful  nature;  in  no  respect — in  attributes, 
dignity,  or  glory — above  a  vast  multitude  of  gods,  or 
above  what  any  man  may  become,  except  that  he  has 
the  largest  family;  giving  commands  and  a  moral  law 
which  he  himself  is  the  first  to  violate,  doing  evil  that 
good  may  come — -is  it  strange  that  a  people  that  has 
such  as  their  highest  conception  of  the  deity,  should 
have  sunk  into  the  most  beastly  sensualism  the  world 
has  ever  known,  and  been  guilty  of  the  most  diabolical 
crimes,  without  the  least  compunctions  of  conscience, 
verily  believing  they  were  doing  God's  will,  provided 
they  were  thereby  furthering  the  interests  of  their  Zion?  • 
To  a  people  serving  such  a  God,  lust  is  godlike;  and  J 
all  law,  civil  and  moral,  must  yield  to  considerations  of 
temporary  advantage." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— ITS  DOCTRINE  AS 
TO  CHRIST  AND  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT- 
CHRIST  A  POLYGAMIST— THE  HOLY 
SPIRIT  A  SUBSTANCE. 

The  first  article  of  the  Mormon  Creed  goes  on  to  say : 

"We  believe  in  God  the  eternal  Father,  and  in  His  son 
Son  Jesus  Christ." 

The  "eternal  Father."  But  he  is  our  Father,  not  in 
a  spiritual  sense  but  in  the  sense  of  natural  generation. 
They  speak  also  of  our  "Mother  God,"  and  sing  about 
her  in  one  of  their  hymns.  But  they  believe  in  "His 
Son  Jesus  Christ." 

What  kind  of  Son  ?    What  kind  of  Christ  ? 

The  Key  to  Theology  says : 

"Each  of  these  Gods,  including  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Father,  being  in  possession  of  not  merely  an  organized 
spirit,  but  a  glorious  immortal  body  of  flesh  and  bones, 
is  subject  to  the  laws  which  govern,  of  necessity,  even 
the  most  refined  order  of  physical  existence."    (p.  44.) 

"All  these  are  Gods,  or  sons  of  God;  they  are  the 
Kings,  Princes,  Priests,  Nobles  of  Eternity.  But  over 
them  all  there  is  a  Presidency  or  Grand  Head,  who  is 
the  Father  of  all.  And  next  unto  Him  is  Jesus  Christ, 
the  eldest  born,  and  first  heir  of  all  the  realms  of  light." 

(P-  430 

"It  is  therefore  an  impossibility  for  God  the  Father, 
or  Jesus   Christ,   to  be  everywhere  personally  present." 

(P-  45) 

128 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  129 

"The  Father  has  a  body  of  flesh  and  bones  as  tang- 
ible as  man's;  the  Son  also."  (Doctrine  and  Covenants, 
Sec.  130;  22.) 

And  so  they  regard  him  as  a  son  only  by  physical 
procreation. 

The  Mormons  also  believe  that  Christ  was  a  polyga- 
mist  while  on  earth. 

Apostle  Orson  Hyde  taught: 

"If  at  the  marriage  at  Cana  of  Galilee,  Jesus  was  the 
bridegroom,  and  took  unto  him  Mary,  Martha,  and  the 
other  Mary  whom  Jesus  loved,  it  shocks  not  our  nerves. 
If  there  were  not  an  attachment  and  familiarity  between 
our  Savior  and  these  women  highly  improper,  only  in 
the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  then  we  have  no  sense 
of  propriety,  or  of  the  characteristics  of  good  and  refined 
society.  Wisely  then  was  it  concealed;  but,  when  the 
Savior  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death,  when  nailed  to 
the  cross,  he  saw  his  seed  of  children,  but  who  shall  de- 
clare his  generation."  (The  Rocky  Mountain  Saints; 
p.  485.) 

The  Mormons  use  two  other  passages  of  Scripture  to 
substantiate  their  theory  that  Christ  was  a  polygamist: 
(1)  The  passage  in  Revelation,  "And  I  will  also  show 
you  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife."  Of  course  the  angel 
is  speaking  of  the  church.  But  the  Mormons  take  it 
as  referring  to  a  woman.  (2)  When  Mary  in  the  gar- 
den recognized  her  Lord,  she  addressed  him  as  "Rab- 
boni."  This  means  "my  Teacher,"  "my  Lord,"  but  they 
say  it  means  "my  husband."  A  Mormon  elder  said  in 
a  Methodist  Sunday-school  at  Goodlettsville,  near  Nash- 
ville, several  months  ago,  that  Christ  was  a  polygamist, 
and  when  called  on  for  his  proof  gave  this  latter  pas- 
sage.    From  this  they  also  argue  that  he  lived  in  poly- 


t3o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

gamous  relations  with  Mary  and  Martha,  the  sisters  of 
Lazarus,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  the  other  women  who 
were  in  his  company,  and  that  he  is  now  living  in  poly- 
gamous cohabitation  with  them  in  Heaven. 

And  this  is  the  kind  of  "Christ"  they  believe  in,  a 
man  with  flesh  and  bones,  a  son  of  God  by  natural  gen- 
eration, that  God  is  "as  directly  the  Father  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  Brigham  Young,  Sr.,  claims  to  be  the  father  of  Brig- 
ham  Young,  Jr.,"  and  worse  than  all,  that  Christ  was  Him- 
self a  polygamist ! 

But  they  add,  "We  believe  in  God  the  Eternal  Father, 
and  in  His  son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost/' 
What  kind  of  a  Holy' Ghost  ?  The  Apostle  Parley  P.  Pratt 
in  his  Key  to  Theology  tells  us: 

"There  are  several  of  these  subtle,  invisible  substances 
but  little  understood  as  yet  by  man,  and  their  existence 
is  only  demonstrated  by  their  effects.  Some  of  them 
are  recognized  under  several  terms,  electricity,  galvan- 
ism, magnetism,  animal  magnetism,  spiritual  magnetism, 
essence,  spirit,  etc. 

"The  purest,  most  refined  and  subtle  of  all  these  sub- 
stances, and  the  one  the  least  understood,  or  even  rec- 
ognized, by  the  less  informed  among  mankind,  is  that 
substance  called  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"This  substance,  like  all  others,  is  one  of  the  elements 
of  material  or  physical  existences,  and  therefore  sub- 
ject to  the  necessary  laws  which  govern  all  matter  as 
before  enumerated. 

"Like  the  other  elements,  its  whole  is  composed  of  in- 
dividual particles.  Like  them,  each  particle  occupies 
space,  possesses  the  power  of  motion,  requires  time  to 
move  from  one  part  of  space  to  another,  and  can  in  no 
wise  occupy  two  spaces  at  once.  In  all  these  respects 
it  differs  nothing  from  all  other  matter. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  131 

"This  substance  is  widely  diffused  among  the  elements 
of  space.  This  Holy  Spirit,  under  the  control  of  the 
great  Eloheim,  is  the  grand  moving  cause  of  all  intelli- 
gence and  by  which  they  act. 

"This  is  the  great,  positive,  controlling  element  of  all 
other  elements.  It  is  omnipresent  by  reason  of  the  infin- 
itude of  its  particles,  and  it  comprehends  all  things/' 
(pp.  46,  47.) 

Again : 

"All  the  elements  of  the  material  universe  are  eternal. 

"There  is  a  divine  substance,  fluid,  or  essence  called 
spirit,    widely    diffused    among   these    eternal    elements. 

(p.  60.) 

"As  the  electric  fluid  obeys  its  own  laws  upon  the  wire 
so  also  does  the  spiritual  or  holy  fluid  convey  itself, 
through  certain  channels,  from  one  body  to  another,  in 
accordance  with  certain  legitimate  laws."     (p.  102.) 

And  Joseph  Smith  in  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nants says : 

"There  is  no  such  thing  as  immaterial  matter.  All 
spirit  is  matter,  but  it  is  more  fine  or  pure,  and  can 
only  be  discerned  by  purer  eyes. 

"We  can  not  see  it ;  but  when  our  bodies  are  purified, 
we  shall  see  that  it  is  all  matter."  (Doctrine  and  Cove- 
nants,  Sec.   131,  7:8.) 

Consistent  with  this  view  the  Mormons  constantly 
speak  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  "it" — as  a  thing,  not  a  per- 
son. In  Mormon  Doctrine,  Plain  and  Simple,  or  Leaves 
from  the  Tree  of  Life,  by  Charles  W.  Penrose,  the 
pronoun  "it"  is  used  with  reference  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
fourteen  times  in  one  paragraph. 

If  the  unpardonable  sin  consists  in  blasphemy  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  many  scholars  think,  surely  the  Mor- 
mons have  committed  it. 


132  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  Mormon  doc- 
trine as  to  God  because  that  is  the  keynote  to  their  the- 
ology. If  a  person  is  wrong  in  his  belief  as  to  God, 
he  is  very  apt  to  be  wrong  everywhere.  That  is  the 
test,  the  Shibboleth,  the  turning  point  of  all  his  faith 
and  all  his  actions.  The  Mormon  doctrine  as  to  God 
begins  in  literalism,  runs  into  rationalism,  then  degen- 
erates into  materialism  and  then  descends  to  the  depths 
of  sensualism.  To  Christian  minds  it  is  most  horrible, 
abominable.  Heaven  they  consider  a  kind  of  great  big, 
magnificent  seraglio,  where  God  the  Father,  and  Christ 
the  Son,  and  Joseph  Smith  the  Prophet,  and  Brigham 
Young  and  other  good  Mormons  are  living,  and  will 
live  when  they  die,  in  polygamous  cohabitation  with 
their  wives.  ''There  will  be  no  marrying  there."  True. 
And  so  you  must  be  sealed  to  the  wives  spiritually  for 
eternity,  so  that  you  can  live  with  them  when  you  get 
there.  The  more  wives  you  have  the  higher  will  be 
your  exaltation  in  glory.  Consequently  you  need  to 
marry  as  many  as  possible  here.  Such  is  their  teaching. 
How  disgusting! 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— THE  FALL— A  FALL 
UPWARD— THE  ATONEMENT— SAVED  BY 
OBEDIENCE. 

I  need  not  dwell  so  much  at  length  upon  other  articles 
of  the  Mormon  faith  as  I  have  upon  their  belief  in  God 
because,  as  I  said,  that  is  more  fundamental.  The  second 
article  in  their  creed  says : 

"We  believe  that  men  will  be  punished  for  their  own 
sins  and  not  for  Adam's  transgression." 

There  are  two  meanings  given  to  this  clause : 

(i)  That  it  is  meant  to  teach  that  Adam  did  not  fall, 
or  rather  that  he  "fell  upward." 

Repudiating  the '  fact  of  creation,  the  Mormons  also  of 
course  repudiate  the  story  of  the  fall  of  Adam.  It  is 
regarded  as  "beneficent;  planned,  accomplished  and  ef- 
fected by  God  Himself  for  the  greater  knowledge  of  His 
earthly  descendants."— "Adam  fell,  that  men  might  be." 
He  "fell  upward."    The  Book  of  Mormon  says : 

"And  now,  behold,  if  Adam  had  not  transgressed,  he 
would  not  have  fallen ;  but  he  would  have  remained  in 
the  garden  of  Eden.  And  all  things  which  were  created 
must  have  remained  in  the  same  state  which  they  were 
after  they  were  created ;  and  they  must  have  remained 
forever,  and  had  no  end.  And  they  would  have  had  no 
children;  wherefore,  they  would  have  remained  in  a 
state  of  innocence,  having  no  joy,  for  they  knew  no  mis- 
ery ;  doing  no  good,  for  they  knew  no  sin.  But  behold,  all 
things  have  been  done  in  the  wisdom  of  Him  who  knoweth 

133 


i34  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

all  things.  Adam  fell  that  men  might  be;  and  men  are 
that  they  might  have  joy."     (2  Nephi.  ii.  22-25.) 

"The  Pearl  of  Great  Price/'  a  book  considered  as  of 
divine  authority,  along  with  the  Bible,  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon and  the  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  represents  Adam 
and  Eve  as  rejoicing  and  praising  God  because  of  their 
having  fallen.    It  says : 

"And  in  that  day  Adam  blessed  God  and  was  filled,  and 
began  to  prophesy  concerning  all  the  families  of  the  earth, 
saying,  Blessed  be  the  name  of  God,  for  because  of  my 
transgression  my  eyes  are  opened,  and  in  this  life  I  shall 
have  joy,  and  again  in  the  flesh  I  shall  see  God.  And  Eve, 
his  wife,  heard  all  these  things  and  was  glad,  saying,  Were 
it  not  for  our  transgression  we  never  should  have  had 
seed,  and  never  should  have  known  good  and  evil,  and 
the  joy  of  our  redemption,  and  the  eternal  life  which  God 
giveth  unto  all  the  obedient.  And  Adam  and  Eve  blessed 
the  name  of  God ;  and  they  made  all  things  known  unto 
their  sons  and  their  daughters."  (Pearl  of  Great  Price, 
p.  19.) 

With  reference  to  this  passage  Dr.  Osborn  says : 

"Adam  and  God  are  here  two  persons.  Above  in  equally 
inspired  writings  they  are  one  and  the  same  person.  Mor- 
monism  is  consistent  only  in  its  inconsistencies."  (The 
Mormon  Doctrine  of  God  and  Heaven.) 

The  Catechism  has  these  questions  and  answers : 

"Was  it  necessary  that  Adam  should  partake  of  the 
forbidden  fruit  ? 

"Yes;  unless  he  had  done  so  he  would  never  have 
known  good  and  evil  here,  neither  could  he  have  had  mor- 
tal posterity,  and  he  could  not  have  cleaved  to  Eve,  as  he 
had  promised,  after  her  fall. 

"Did  Adam  and  Eve  lament  or  rejoice  because  they 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  135 

had   transgressed    the    commandment    and    become  ac- 
quainted with  the  nature  of  evil  and  good  ? 

"They  rejoiced  and  praised  God. 

"Is  it  proper  for  us  to  consider  the  transgression  of 
Adam  and  Eve  as  a  grievous  calamity,  and  that  all  man- 
kind would  have  been  infinitely  more  happy  if  the  fall 
had  not  occurred  ? 

"No..  But  we  ought  to  consider  the  fall  of  our  first 
parents  as  one  of  the  great  steps  to  eternal  exaltation  and 
happiness,  and  one  ordered  by  God  in  his  infinite  wisdom ; 
for  we  cannot  know  the  excellence  and  beauty  of  that 
which  is  good  unless  we  experience  the  wretchedness  and 
deformity  of  that  which  is  evil." 

Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage,  one  of  the  highest  Mormon  authori- 
ties and  probably  at  present  their  most  scholarly  man,  says : 

"It  was  the  purpose  of  God  to  place  within  the  reach  of 
the  spirits  begotten  by  Him  in  the  heavens  the  means  of 
individual  effort,  and  the  opportunity  of  winning,  not 
merely  salvation,  or  exemption  from  spiritual  death,  but 
exaltation,  with  the  powers  of  eternal  progression  and 
increase.  Hence,  it  was  necessary  that  the  spiritual  off- 
spring of  God  should  leave  the  mansions  of  their  primeval 
childhood  and  enter  the  school  of  mortal  experience,  meet- 
ing, contending  with  and  overcoming  evil,  according  to 
their  several  degrees  of  faith  and  strength.  Adam  and 
Eve  could  never  have  been  the  parents  of  mortal  posterity 
had  they  not  themselves  become  mortal;  mortality,  as 
before  stated,  was  an  essential  element  in  the  Divine  plan 
respecting  the  earth  and  its  appointed  inhabitants;  and 
as  a  means  of  introducing  mortality,  the  Lord  placed  be- 
fore the  progenitors  of  the  race  a  law,  knowing  full  well 
that  transgression  would  follow."  (Articles  of  Faith,  pp. 
7h  72.) 


i36  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Again  Dr.  Talmage  says : 

"It  has  become  a  common  practice  with  mankind  to 
heap  reproaches  upon  the  progenitors  of  the  family,  and 
to  picture  the  supposedly  blessed  state  in  which  we  would 
be  living  but  for  the  fall ;  whereas  our  first  parents  are 
entitled  to  our  deepest  gratitude  for  their  legacy  to  pos- 
terity— the  means  of  winning  glory,  exaltation  and  eternal 
lives  on  the  battlefield  of  mortality.  But  for  the  oppor- 
tunity thus  given,  the  spirits  of  God's  offspring  would 
have  remained  forever  in  a  state  of  innocent  childhood; 
sinless  through  no  effort  of  their  own ;  negatively  saved, 
not  from  sin,  but  from  the  power  of  sinning ;  incapable  of 
winning  the  honors  of  victory  because  prevented  from 
taking  part  in  the  battle.  As  it  is,  they  are  heirs  to  the 
birthright  of  Adam's  descendants— mortality,  with  its  im- 
measurable opportunities,  and  its  God-given  freedom  of 
action.  From  Father  Adam  we  have  inherited  all  the  ills 
to  which  flesh  is  heir;  but  such  are  necessarily  incident 
to  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  by  the  proper  use  of 
which  knowledge  man  may  become  even  as  the  Gods."  (p. 

74.) 

The  Millennial  Star  says : 

"Adam  fell,  but  his  fall  became  a  matter  of  necessity 
after  the  woman  had  transgressed.  ...  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Prophet  Lehi,  'Adam  fell  that  men  might 
be/  ...  No  wonder  Father  Adam  fell,  and  accom- 
panied the  woman,  sharing  in  all  the  miseries  of  the  curse, 
that  he  might  be  the  father  of  an  innumerable  race  of 
beings  who  would  be  capable  of  becoming  Gods."  (Vol. 
XV.,p.8oi.) 

From  these  quotations  it  is  seen  that  the  Mormons 
regard  the  fall  of  Adam  as  a  blessing,  and  consequently 
that  men  are  not  to  be  punished  for  his  transgression,  be- 
cause there  was  no  real  sin  in  it. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  137 

Dr.  Osborn  well  remarks  on  this  doctrine :  "Thus  the 
fall  of  Adam  was  no  fall,  but  a  lifting  up.  Sin  was  no  sin, 
but  an  act  of  God  and  a  blessing.  And  the  first  and  great- 
est violator  of  God's  law  was  God  Himself." 

(2)  The  clause  was  evidently  inspired  by  Sidney  Rig- 
don.  It  is  rank  Socinianism.  It  teaches  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  the  headship  of  Adam  in  the  sense  that  "in 
Adam  all  sinned"  and  "all  died" ;  no  such  thing  as  total 
depravity,  as  a  result  of  Adam's  sin ;  man  at  birth  is  inno- 
cent and  able  to  obey  God ;  sin  consists  only  in  a  person's 
own  acts  and  for  these  alone  he  is  punished.  This  theory 
is  very  different  from  the  Bible  doctrine,  which  teaches 
that  Adam  was  a  man  (not  God,  as  Brigham  Young 
taught,  and  many  Mormons  now  believe)  ;  that  he  was 
the  natural  head  of  the  human  race ;  that  when  he  sinned 
the  fountain  of  human  nature  became  corrupt  and  the 
stream  has  ever  since  been  affected  by  the  corruption,  so 
that  "in  Adam  all  sinned";  that  we  are  all  "by  nature 
children  of  wrath" ;  that  man  is  "dead  in  trespasses  and  in 
sins,"  "not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can 
be"  in  his  natural  state ;  that  our  personal  sins  are  simply 
the  outcome  or  expression  of  this  sinful  nature ;  that  "as 
a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he" ;  that  "out  of  the 
heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,"  etc. 

The  third  article  of  the  Mormon  creed  is  closely  con- 
nected with  the  second.    It  reads : 

"We  believe  that,  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  all 
mankind  may  be  saved,  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel." 

"Through  the  atonement  of  Christ."'  What  kind  of 
atonement?  Here  is  the  kind  of  atonement  which  the 
Mormons  teach :  They  believe  that  God  was  under  obli- 
gation to  give  Christ  to  die  for  mankind;    that  it  was 


I38  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

part  of  a  prearranged  plan  agreed  upon  before  Adam 
transgressed,  and  so,  as  Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage  expresses  it, 
"the  atonement  wrought  by  Jesus  Christ  is  a  necessary 
sequence  of  the  transgression  of  Adam";  that  Christ's 
obedience  to  the  law  offset  the  disobedience  of  Adam,  and 
thus  redeemed  all  men  "from  the  effects  of  Adam's  trans- 
gression," and  rendered  it  possible  for  each  man  to  save 
himself,  throwing  each  upon  his  own  personal  conduct 
as  to  whether  he  will  be  saved  or  not.  Dr.  Talmage  speaks 
of  the  "two-fold  effect  of  the  atonement."    He  says  : 

"The  first  effect  is  to  secure  to  all  mankind  alike  ex- 
emption from  the  otherwise  terrible  effects  of  the  Fall,  thus 
providing  a  plan  of  General  Salvation.  The  second  effect 
is  to  open  a  way  for  Individual  Salvation  whereby  man- 
kind may  secure  forgiveness  of  personal  sins.  As  these 
sins  are  the  result  of  individual  acts,  it  is  just  that  for- 
giveness for  them  should  be  conditioned  on  individual 
compliance  with  prescribed  requirements — 'obedience  to 
the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel.'  "  (p.  90.) 

I  have  not  time  now  to  discuss  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment at  length.  I  may  only  say  now  that  the  above  doc- 
trine of  the  atonement  does  not  come  within  one  thousand 
miles  of  the  Bible  doctrine.  In  fact,  it  tears  the  very  heart 
out  of  that  precious  doctrine.  According  to  it  Christ's 
death  saves  no  one.  It  merely  made  it  possible  for  every 
one  to  save  himself.  How  shall  he  save  himself?  The 
article  goes  on  to  say:  "By  obedience  to  the  laws  and 
ordinances  of  the  gospel !"  I  hardly  need  to  stop  and  argue 
this  point  at  length.  Just  a  few  words  will,  perhaps, 
suffice.  Paul  summed  up  the  whole  argument  when  he 
said :  "For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith ;  and  that 
not  of  yourselves :  it  is  the  gift  of  God :  Not  of  works,  lest 
any  man  should  boast.     For  we  are  his  workmanship, 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  139 

created  in  Jesus  Christ  unto  good  works,  which  God  hath 
before  ordained  that  we  should  walk  in  them."  (Eph. 
ii.  8-10.) 

To  the  jailer  who  asked,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
he  replied,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved" — and  not  "Obey  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  the  gospel  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."     (Acts  xvi.  31, 

32.) 

Dr.  Talmage  says  that  "salvation  comes  to  the  indi- 
vidual only  through  obedience."  That  is  true.  But  it  is 
not  through  his  own  obedience,  but  the  obedience  of 
Christ. 

Paul  said :  "For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  (Adam) 
many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one" — 
not  of  many  but  "of  one;'  of  one,  of  ONE,  and  that  one 
Christ  Jesus— "shall  many  be  made  righteous."  (Rom.  v. 

19.) 

And  so  I  might  quote  passage  after  passage  to  substan- 
tiate this  position,  if  there  were  need  for  it.  Of  course,  I 
believe  in  obedience,  but  in  an  obedience  which  is  the 
result,  not  the  cause  of  salvation.  We  obey  because  we  are 
saved,  not  in  order  to  be  saved.  Our  obedience  is  that  of 
the  child,  not  that  of  the  slave. 

The  question  raised  in  this  article  is  the  old  one  of 
salvation  by  grace  or  salvation  by  works.  I  say  with  Paul 
that  salvation  is  by  grace  through  faith.  The  Mormons 
say,  and  they  contend  strenuously  for  it,  that  salvation 
is  by  works.  They  attack  vigorously  the  grand  old  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith. 

But  they  add :  "By  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordinances 
of  the  gospel."    Here  is  baptismal  salvation ! 

This  the  Mormons  teach  straight  out,  and  make  no 
bones  of  it.    The  Catechism  says : 


140  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"No  person  who  has  arrived  at  the  years  of  accounta- 
bility, and  has  heard  the  gospel,  can  be  saved  without  bap- 
tism."   (Catechism,  p.  46.) 

Here  is  what  the  Book  of  Mormon  says : 

"And  whoso  believeth  not  in  me,  and  is  not  baptized, 
shall  be  damned.  .  .  .  And  again  I  say  unto  you, 
Ye  must  repent,  and  be  baptized  in  my  name,  and  become 
as  a  little  child,  or  ye  can  in  no  wise  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  this  is  my 
doctrine,  and  whoso  buildeth  upon  this  buildeth  upon  my 
rock,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  them." 
(3  Nephi  xi.  34,  38,  39.) 

The  Doctrine  and  Covenants  says : 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  they  who  believe  not  on 
your  works,  and  are  not  baptized  in  water,  in  my  name,  for 
the  remission  of  their  sins,  that  they  may  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost,  shall  be  damned,  and  shall  not  come  into  my  Fath- 
er's kingdom,  where  my  Father  and  I  am."  (Doctrine 
and  Covenants,  84:74.) 

Joseph  Smith  taught  that  "Children  shall  be  baptized 
for  the  remission  of  their  sins  when  eight  years  old,  and 
receive  the  laying  on  of  the  hands."  (Doctrine  and  Cov- 
enants, 68:27.) 

Mr.  Stenhouse  thus  sums  up  the  Mormon  plan  of  sal- 
vation : 

"All  men  and  women  must  have  faith  in  redemption 
wrought  out  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  must  be  baptized  by 
immersion  'in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost,'  in  order  that  their  own  individual  sins  may  be 
washed  away.  This  being  the  happy  condition  of  mind, 
and  the  ordinances  complied  with,  the  hands  of  the  elders 
are  laid  upon  the  heads  of  the  disciples  that  'they  may 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost.'    In  due  time  every  man  is  also 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  141 

to  receive  the  priesthood  of  Aaron  and  Melchisedec,  and 
thereby  become  entitled  to  commune  with  the  heavens, 
and  when  they  have  accepted  the  'Celestial  Law'  of  Mar- 
riage—i.  e.,  polygamy— and  have  passed  through  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  'Endowments/  they  are  presumed  to  be 
fairly  started  for  'honor,  glory  and  eternal  lives  with  the 
gods.' " 

Of  course  the  "ordinances  of  the  gospel"  referred  to  in 
the  article  of  faith  are  the  ordinances  of  the  Mormon 
Church  (  ?).  In  other  words,  in  order  to  be  saved  a  per- 
son must  be  baptized  by  a  Mormon  priest.  Here  is  sacra- 
mentalism  of  the  deepest  dye.  This  comes  out  more 
clearly  in  Article  5,  which  we  shall  consider  later  on.  It 
reads :  "We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of  God, 
by  prophecy  and  by  laying  on  of  hands  by  those  who  are 
in  authority,  to  preach  the  gospel  and  administer  in  the 
ordinances  thereof.''  They  teach  openly  and  boldly  that 
there  is  no  salvation  outside  of  the  Mormon  Church. 
Brigham  Young  in  a  sermon  asked  the  question,  "Will  all 
the  people  be  damned  who  are  not  Latter  Day  Saints?" 
To  this  he  answered,  "Yes,  and  a  great  many  of  them, 
except  they  repent  speedily." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— FAITH— REPENT- 
ANCE—BAPTISM— LAYING  ON  OF  HANDS 
—THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

The  fourth  article  of  faith  in  the  Mormon  creed  says : 
"We  believe  that  these  first  principles  and  ordinances 
are:  First,  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  second,  re- 
pentance ;  third,  baptism  by  immersion  for  the  remission 
of  sins;  fourth,  laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

Remember  that  the  third  article  had  said : 
"We  believe  that,  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  all 
mankind  may  be  saved,  by  obedience  to  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel." 

There  are  several  serious  objections  to  this  fourth 
article. 

1.  The  word  faith  is  used  here  in  a  different  sense  from 
that  in  which  it  is  usually  understood  by  evangelical  peo- 
ple. It  is  not  a  warm,  spiritual,  personal  trust  in  a  per- 
sonal Savior  for  salvation  from  sin.  It  is  rather  a  cold, 
mechanical  "full  confidence  and  trust  in  the  being,  pur- 
poses and  words  of  God."  It  is  "a  principle  of  power," 
not  simply  the  means  of  receiving  the  power  of  God 
through  Christ.  It  is  a  matter  of  obedience,  not  the  me- 
dium of  appropriating  Christ's  obedience. 

2.  But  faith  is  not  a  saving  power.  "Faith  without 
further  obedience  is  useless."  (Cathechism  p.  37.)  "The 
Scriptures  abound  in  assurances  of  salvation  to  those  who 
exercise  faith  in  God  and  obey  the  requirements  which 

142 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  143 

that  faith  makes  plain."  (J.  E.  Talmage,  Articles  of 
Faith,  p.  no.)  The  precious  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  is  scouted.  Dr.  Talmage  says  that  "The  sectarian 
dogma  of  justification  by  faith  alone  has  exercised  an 
influence  for  evil  since  the  early  days  of  Christianity." 
He  calls  it  a  "pernicious  doctrine/'  and  Luther  is  held  up 
to  scorn  for  proclaiming  it.  Mr.  C.  W.  Penrose  also 
strongly  denounces  the  doctrine  in  his  "Leaves  from  the 
Tree  of  Life." 

3.  Faith  is  put  before  repentance,  which  is  an  utter  f 
absurdity  and  an  absolute  impossibility.  Wherever  the 
two  are  mentioned  together  in  the  Bible  repentance  in- 
variably comes  first,  as  naturally  it  would.  No  one  is 
ready  to  accept  a  Savior  until  he  has  repented  of  his  sins, 
just  as  no  one  is  ready  to  send  for  a  physician  until  he 
realizes  his  sickness. 

4.  Repentance  here  does  not  mean  a  godly  sorrow  for 
sin.    The  Catechism  says : 

"Q.  Does  repentance  consist  in  mourning  and  groan- 
ing and  hanging  down  our  heads  sorrowfully  ? 

"A.    No.    A  man  may  do  all  those  things  and  yet  never 

repent. 

"Q.    Then  what  is  repentance  ? 

"A.  Forsaking  sin  with  full  purpose  of  heart  to  work 
righteousness." 

5.  Baptism  is  "by  immersion  for  the  remission  of  sins." 
I  need  not  discuss  this  doctrine  here.  I  only  wanted  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  held  by  the  Mormons. 

6.  But  they  go  one  step  farther  and  lay  down  a 
fourth  principle  and  ordinance  in  the  plan  of  sal- 
vation—"Laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  This  laying  on  of  hands  is  of  course  by  the  Mor- 
mon priest.    But  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  accom- 


144  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

panies  salvation  does  not  come  by  the  laying  on  of  priestly 
hands.  It  is  given  by  invisible  hands.  It  is  spiritual,  not 
material.  It  comes  directly  from  God.  Like  the  mountain 
stream,  it  is  not  conveyed  through  any  external,  mechan- 
ical human  conduit.  God  stands  ready  to  give  the  Spirit 
to  anyone  for  the  asking.    (Matt.  vii.  n.) 

But  the  Mormons  say  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  only 
through  the  hands  of  Mormon  priests. 

"The  Latter-Day  Saints  claim  to  possess  authority  to 
administer  in  the  name  of  God;  and  that  this  right  has 
been  conferred  in  this  day  under  the  hands  of  those  who 
held  the  same  power  in  former  dispensations." 

"Every  holder  of  the  priesthood  to-day  can  trace  his 
authority  to  the  hands  of  Joseph  the  Prophet,  who,  as 
already  stated,  received  his  ordination  under  the  hands  of 
heavenly  messengers  clothed  with  power  divine." 

They  even  claim  that  "Men,  who  are  called  of  God  to 
the  authority  of  the  ministry  on  earth,  may  have  been 
selected  for  such  appointment  even  before  they  took  mor- 
tal bodies." 

And  they  say  that  ''Unauthorised  ministrations  in 
priestly  functions  are  not  alone  invalid,  they  are  indeed 
grievously  sinful.  In  His  dealings  with  mankind,  God  has 
ever  recognized  and  honored  the  priesthood  established 
by  His  direction;  and  has  never  countenanced  any  un- 
authorized assumption  of  authority."  They  instance  the 
cases  of  Korah,  Miriam,  Uzzah  and  others.  They  believe 
that  the  Lord  now  has  a  priesthood  on  the  earth  like  the 
old  Jewish  priesthood,  and  then  they  assume  that  they  are 
that  priesthood.  They  are  like  the  Hardshell  Baptists, 
who  passed  the  resolutions,  "Resolved,  i,  That  the  Lord 
has  a  people  on  earth.  Resolved,  2,  That  we  are  the  peo- 
ple."   The  Mormons  do  not  seem  ever  to  have  read  the 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  145 

book  of  Hebrews,  in  which  the  fact  is  shown  very  clearly 
that  the  old  Jewish  priesthood  and  all  similar  priesthoods 
have  been  done  away  under  the  new  dispensation  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  every  man  is  now  his  own  priest; 
that  the  veil  of  the  temple  has  been  rent  in  twain,  and  every 
one  may  now  approach  the  mercy  seat  in  the  Holy  of 
Holies  for  himself  without  any  priestly  intervention. 

But  this  doctrine  of  the  priesthood  comes  out  more 
clearly  in  the  fifth  article  of  faith,  which  reads : 

"We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of  God,  by 
'prophecy,  and  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,'  by  those  who 
are  in  authority,  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer  in 
the  ordinances  thereof." 

The  emphasis  in  this  article  is  on  the  expression,  "by 
those  who  are  in  authority" — which  means  again  the  Mor- 
mon priesthood.  No  one  else,  they  believe,  is  "in  author- 
ity." The  ministers  of  all  other  denominations  are  "sec- 
tarians," "heretics,"  "hirelings,"  etc.  Only  those  who 
have  been  ordained  by  "the  laying  on  of  hands,  by  those 
who  are  in  authority,"  have  the  right  "to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel and  administer  in  the  ordinances  thereof."  Here  the 
power  of  the  priesthood  is  distinctly  asserted.  This  is 
one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  Mormonism.  There  are 
four  of  these  cardinal  doctrines — their  belief  as  to  God,  / 
polygamy,  the  priesthood  and  new  revelations.  All  of 
the  other  three  rest  very  largely  upon  the  priesthood. 
This  doctrine  gives  force  and  effectiveness  to  the  others. 
Given  the  absolute  authority  of  the  priesthood  which  the 
Mormons  claim,  and  the  blind  and  unquestioning  obedi- 
ence to  it  which  they  demand,  and  everything  else  is  pos- 
sible. 

The  Mormon  priesthood  is  divided  into  two  general 
classes,  the  Melchisedec  priesthood  and  the  Aaronic  priest- 


146  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

hood.  All  male  Mormons  belong  to  one  or  the  other  of 
these  priesthoods.  The  Melchisedec  priesthood  has  to  do 
especially  with  spiritual  affairs  and  the  Aaronic  priesthood 
with  temporal  affairs,  though  the  Melchisedec  priesthood, 
being  superior  to  the  Aaronic  priesthood  and  exercising 
jurisdiction  over  it,  also  controls  in  temporal  affairs.  The 
Melchisedec  priesthood  is  divided  into  Apostles,  Seven- 
ties, Patriarchs,  High  Priests  and  Elders;  the  Aaronic 
priesthood  into  Bishops,  Priests,  Teachers  and  Deacons. 
Over  each  of  these  different  orders  there  are  presiding 
officers,  as  follows : 

Presidencies  in  the  Melchisedec  Priesthood — First 
Presidency. — A  High  Priest  is  chosen  to  preside  over  the 
Melchisedec  or  higher  priesthood.  He  also  presides  over 
the  church  in  all  the  world,  and  is  a  Prophet,  Seer  or  Rev- 
elator.  Two  other  High  Priests  are  associated  with  the 
President  as  counselors.    (Roberts  Eccl.  Hist.,  p.  367.) 

The  Traveling  Presiding  High  Council. — The  Twelve 
Apostles,  or  special  witnesses  of  the  name  of  Christ  in  all 
the  world;  they  labor  under  the  direction  of  the  First 
Presidency.    (Roberts  Eccl.  Hist.,  p.  368.) 

Quorum  of  Seventy. — There  are  a  number  of  quorums 
of  seventy  in  each,  and  each  quorum  is  presided  over  by 
seven  Presidents,  the  senior  by  ordination  presiding  over 
the  other  six.  The  first  seven  Presidents  preside  over  all 
the  Seventy.    (Roberts,  368.) 

Patriarchs.— There  is  one  general  and  a  number  of 
local  patriarchs  in  the  church.  These  officers  hold  the 
keys  of  blessing  in  the  church.  The  office  is  designed  to 
descend  from  father  to  son.     (Roberts,  p.  370.) 

High  Priests.— From  among  the  High  Priests  are  se- 
lected presidents  of  the  different  stakes  in  Zion.  Bishops 
are  also  chosen  from  among  them.    (Roberts,  p.  371.) 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  147 

Elders. — Elders  have  power  to  preach  the  gospel,  bap- 
tize, lay  on  hands  for  the  Holy  Ghost.  Ninety-six  Elders 
constitute  a  quorum.     (Roberts,  p.  372.) 

The  Aaronic  Priesthood. — The  general  Bishop  of  the 
Church  is  the  general  President  and  local  Bishops  are 
local  Presidents.    (Sec.  3,  part  4,  Roberts  Eccl.  Hist.) 

Priests — Forty-eight  Priests  of  the  Aaronic  order  are  a 
quorum.    The  Presidency  of  this  quorum  is  to  be  a  Bishop. 

Teachers. — Twenty-four  Teachers  constitute  a  quorum ; 
they  are  presided  over  by  a  President  and  two  counselors. 
(Roberts,  Sec.  2,  part  4.) 

Deacons. — Twelve  Deacons  constitute  a  quorum ;  they 
are  presided  over  by  a  President  and  two  counselors. 
(Roberts,  Sec.  2,  part  4.) 

Thus  it  is  seen  how  thorough  is  the  organization  of  the 
Mormon  priesthood.  But  every  lower  order  is  subject  to 
the  higher,  until  all  authority  centers  in  the  head  of  the 
church,  the  Prophet,  Seer  and  Revelator,  the  President  of 
the  "Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints."  He 
is  the  apex  of  the  pyramid  of  the  Mormon  system. 

The  Mormon  priesthood  is  as  complete  a  despotism  as 
was  ever  established  on  earth.  Jesuitism  itself  was  never 
more  despotic.  The  first  and  chief  duty  of  every  Mormon 
is  to  be  subject  to  the  priesthood,  to  "obey  counsel."  No 
one  dares  to  think  for  himself.  He  cannot  even  call  his 
soul  his  own.  The  priests  claim  control  over  everything, 
not  ony  spiritual,  but  temporal  and  political.  Their 
"Teachers"  in  the  various  wards  are  expected  to  find  out 
everything  about  all  the  people  in  their  district  during 
each  week,  as  to  how  they  have  been  getting  along  both 
spiritually  and  temporally.  They  then  report  their  in- 
formation to  the  Bishop  of  the  ward  and  he  to  the  higher 
authorities,  the  Twelve  Apostles  and  the  members  of  the 


148  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

First  Presidency.  And  thus  a  complete  system  of  espion- 
age is  kept  upon  the  actions  of  every  one.  Brigham 
Young  claimed  that  he  had  the  right  to  dictate  and  con- 
trol everything  ''even  to  the  ribbons  that  a  woman  should 
wear  or  to  the  setting  up  of  a  stocking."  The  old  Jewish 
theocracy  is  revived  by  the  Mormons,  with  the  President 
of  the  church  as  the  "mouthpiece  of  God." 

To  them  church  and  state  are  identical.  They  contin- 
ually talk  about  a  "Church-kingdom,"  meaning  a  temporal 
kingdom  ruled  over  by  the  head  of  the  church.  It  is  this 
doctrine  and  the  consequent  arrogance  growing  out  of  it 
which  has  been  the  cause  of  nearly  all  the  friction  between 
the  Mormons  and  their  Gentile  neighbors  in  Missouri, 
Illinois  and  Utah.  They  claim  supreme  authority  for  their 
President  and  demand  absolute  subjection  to  him.  They 
cannot,  of  course,  enforce  this  demand  upon  Gentiles. 
But  woe  to  the  Mormon  who  dares  to  refuse  obedience  to 
the  every  wish  and  whim  of  the  priesthood.  He  is  called 
"weak  in  the  faith,"  is  denounced  as  a  traitor,  and  if  he 
persists  in  his  disobedience  he  is  "disfellowshipped,"  be- 
comes an  "apostate"  and  is  turned  over  to  the  "bufferings 
of  Satan."  The  very  severest  denunciations  in  this  life 
and  the  very  direst  penalties  in  the  life  to  come  are  re- 
served for  the  "apostate."  The  object  seems  to  be  to 
make  it  so  unpleasant  for  him  that  no  one  will  dare  to 
apostatize.  There  is  no  sin  which  a  man  can  commit 
which  is  greater  than  disobedience  to  the  priesthood.  It 
is  to  the  Mormons  the  one  unpardonable  sin.  Lying,  theft, 
adultery,  murder  are  as  nothing  compared  to  it.  The 
priesthood,  as  I  said,  is  an  absolute  despotism.  The  peo- 
ple are  taught  that  it  is  infallible.  Blind,  unreasoning,  un- 
questioning obedience  is  required  to  this  infallible  priest- 
hood. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  149 

While  I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City  an  ex-Mormon,  a  gen- 
tleman of  intelligence,  who  had  come  to  see  the  sham  and 
fraud  in  the  Mormon  system,  told  me  that  when  he  began 
to  show  independence  of  the  priesthood  his  own  daughter, 
who  is  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Mormon,  said  to  him  that  if 
he  had  gone  out  and  killed  a  whole  street  full  of  people 
she  could  not  have  felt  any  greater  abhorrence  for  him 
than  she  did.  This  feeling,  of  course,  was  the  result  of 
Mormon  teaching  as  to  the  authority  and  sacredness  and 
infallibility  of  the  priesthood. 

The  cases  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  one  of  the  founders  of 
Mormonism,  who  was  turned  over  to  the  "bufferings  of 
Satan"  by  Brigham  Young  for  aspiring  to  the  presidency 
of  the  church  at  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith;  of  Orson 
Pratt,  the  strongest  writer  the  Mormons  ever  had,  who 
was  publicly  held  up  to  ridicule  and  scorn  for  daring  to 
differ  from  Brigham  Young;  of  the  Walker  Brothers, 
merchants  in  Salt  Lake  City,  who  were  cut  off  and  almost 
ruined  financially,  because  they  did  not  contribute  as  lib- 
erally as  Brigham  Young  thought  they  ought  to ;  of  W.  S. 
Godbe,  E.  L.  T.  Harrison,  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  and  others, 
who  were  disfellowshipped  because  they  claimed  the  priv- 
ilege of  doing  their  own  thinking,  and  contended  for  the 
right  of  private  judgment ;  of  B.  H.  Roberts  and  Moses 
Thatcher,  who  were  threatened  with  excommunication  and 
finally  whipped  back  into  line  because  they  asserted  their 
political  independence  of  the  priesthood — these  and  many 
other  such  cases  too  numerous  to  mention,  all  show  the 
despotism  of  the  Mormon  priesthood.  In  the  trial  of 
Messrs.  Godbe,  Harrison  and  Stenhouse,  Apostle  George 
Q.  Cannon  maintained  that  "it  is  apostacy  to  differ  hon- 
estly from  the  measures  of  the  President  (Young) — a 
man  may  be  honest  even  in  hell" ;  and  Counselor  Daniel 


150  THE  "MORMON  MONSTER. 

H.  Wells  volunteered  the  remarkable  statement  that  the 
accused  "might  as  well  ask  the  question  whether  a  man 
had  the  right  to  differ  honestly  from  the  Almighty!" 

The  Italian  Mormon  missionary  was  right  about  it. 
lie  had  served  in  Brigham  Young's  household.  In  an 
address  to  the  Saints  at  Liverpool  he  exhorted  his  hearers 
to  "obey  the  authorities,"  as  there  was  great  happiness  in 
obedience.  He  said  that  he  had  no  trouble  in  getting 
along:  "I  puts  my  head  in  de  bag,  and  I  goes  along,  and 
I  sees  nothin'."  This  blind,  unreasoning  obedience  to  the 
priesthood  is  the  mark  of  the  highest  virtue  among  the 
Mormons. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

AS  A   RELIGIOUS   SYSTEM— APOSTLES— PRO- 
PHETS, ETC.— SMITH'S  PROPHECIES. 

The  sixth  article  of  faith  in  the  Mormon  creed  reads : 

"We  believe  in  the  same  organization  that  existed  in 
the  primitive  church,  namely:  apostles,  prophets,  pas- 
tors, teafchers,  evangelists,  etc." 

As  to  this  I  have  to  say: 

i.  The  apostle  in  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word,  one 
sent,  is  still  continued  in  the  missionary,  which  is  the 
Latin  word  corresponding  to  the  Greek  word  apostle. 
But  in  the  technical  and  official  sense  of  the  term  the 
office  of  apostle  was  special  and  temporary,  and  was 
discontinued  at  the  close  of  what  we  call  the  apostolic 
age— that  is,  the  first  century.  Smith's  Bible  Diction- 
ary says  on  this  point: 

"As  regards  the  apostolic  office,  it  seems  to  have  been 
pre-eminently  that  of  founding  the  churches,  and  up- 
holding them  by  supernatural  power  specially  bestowed 
for  that  purpose.  It  ceased,  as  a  matter  of  course,  with 
its  first  holders— all  continuation  of  it,  from  the  very 
conditions  of  its  existence  (cf.  I  Cor.  ix.  i),  being  im- 
possible. The  episcopos  of  the  ancient  churches  coex- 
isted with,  and  did  not  in  any  sense  succeed,  the  Apostles ; 
and  when  it  is  claimed  for  bishops  or  any  church  officers 
that  they  are  their  successors,  it  can  be  understood  only 
chronologically,  and  not  officially." 

In  discussing  who  should  be  chosen  as  a  successor  to 
Judas,  Peter  said:  "Wherefore  of  these  men  which 
have  companied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus 

I5i 


152  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

went  in  and  out  among  us,  beginning  from  the  baptism 
of  John,  unto  that  same  day  that  he  was  taken  up  from 
us,  must  one  be  ordained  to  be  a  witness  with  us  of  his 
resurrection."  (Acts  i.  21,  22.)  The  Savior  describes 
his  apostles  as  "they  that  have  continued  with  me  in 
my  temptations."  (Luke  xxii.  28.)  Paul  said  that  one 
special  qualification  of  an  apostle  was  that  he  had  "seen 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord"  (1  Cor.  ix.  1),  and  claimed  that 
he  himself  had  seen  him  and  so  had  a  right  to  be  an 
apostle.  In  the  nature  of  the  office,  therefore,  the  apos- 
tles could  have  no  successors. 

2.  The  word  prophet  means  one  who  speaks  for  God 
and  also  one  who  is  inspired  of  God  to  speak  before  of 
coming  events.  In  the  first  sense  there  are  still  proph- 
ets. Every  preacher  is  a  prophet.  But  in  the  second 
sense,  the  prophet,  like  the  apostle,  left  no  successor. 
Joseph  Smith,  it  is  true,  claimed  to  be  a  prophet  in 
this  sense.  He  made  some  shrewd  guesses  which  his 
credulous  followers  try  to  twist  into  predictions.  For 
instance,  take  the  most  noted  of  his  "prophecies."  He 
claimed  to  have  had  the  following  revelation  given  to 
him  Dec.  25,  1832 : 

"Verily,  thus  saith  the  Lord,  concerning  the  wars 
that  will  shortly  come  to  pass,  beginning  at  the  rebel- 
lion of  South  Carolina,  which  will  eventually  termi- 
nate in  the  death  and  misery  of  many  souls.  The  days 
will  come  that  war  will  be  poured  out  upon  all  nations, 
beginning  at  that  place;  for  behold  the  Southern  States 
shall  be  divided  against  the  Northern  States,  and  the 
Southern  States  will  call  on  other  nations,  even  the  na- 
tion of  Great  Britain,  as  it  is  called,  and  they  shall  also 
call  upon  other  nations  in  order  to  defend  themselves 
against  other  nations;  and  thus  war  shall  be  poured 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  153 

out  upon  all  nations.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  after 
many  days,  slaves  shall  rise  up  against  their  masters, 
who  shall  be  marshaled  and  disciplined  for  war.  And 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  also,  that  the  remnants  who  are 
left  of  the  land  will  marshal  themselves,  and  shall  be- 
come exceeding  angry,  and  shall  vex  the  Gentiles  with 
a  sore  vexation ;  and  thus  with  the  sword,  and  by  blood- 
shed, the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  shall  mourn ;  and  with 
famine  and  plague  and  earthquakes,  and  the  thunder  of 
heaven  and  the  fierce  and  vivid  lightning  also,  shall 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  be  made  to  feel  the  wrath 
and  indignation  and  chastening  hand  of  an  Almighty 
God,  until  the  consummation  decreed  hath  made  a  full 
end  of  all  nations;  that  the  cry  of  the  Saints,  and  of 
the  blood  of  the  Saints,  shall  cease  to  come  up  into  the 
ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth,  from  the  earth  to  be  avenged 
of  their  enemies.  Wherefore  stand  ye  in  holy  places, 
and  be  not  moved,  until  the  day  of  the  Lord  come ;  for 
behold  it  cometh  quickly,  saith  the  Lord.     Amen." 

At  a  conference  held  in  Nauvoo,  April,  1843,  the  vear~ 
preceding  his  death,  Smith  repeated  the  prediction : 

"I  prophecy  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  God,  that  the 
commencement  of  the  difficulties  which  will  cause  much 
bloodshed,  previous  to  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
will  be  in  South  Carolina  (it  probably  may  arise  through 
the  slave  question)  ;  this  a  voice  declared  to  me,  while 
I  was  praying  earnestly  on  the  subject,  Dec.  25,  1832." 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  between  the  States,  the 
Mormons  claimed,  and  have  since  continued  to  claim, 
that  that  event  was  in  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy.  But 
several  facts  should  be  borne  in  mind.  (1)  The  reve- 
lation, claimed  to  have  been  given  Dec.  25,  1832,  was 
not  published  in  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants 


i54  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

compiled  in  1835.  It  was  first  published  sometime  in 
the  fifties,  in  England.  It  was  not  until  after  the  war 
of  1861-65  that  it  was  published  in  this  country.  (2) 
But  admit  that  the  revelation  was  given  Dec.  25,  1832. 
During  that  year,  as  history  shows,  South  Carolina  had 
rebelled.     Says  a  recent  writer: 

"In  November,  the  Anti-Tariff  Convention  issued  the 
Nullification  Ordinance.  It  was  as  a  spark  of  powder 
all  over  the  United  States,  influencing  for  and  against. 
Five  days  later  the  Unionists  even  in  South  Carolina 
met  and  entered  a  red-hot  protest  against  the  ordinance. 

"Andrew  Jackson  was  at  the  nation's  helm.  Old 
Hickory  promptly  issued  his  proclamation  against  the 
rebels.  He  backed  up  his  words  by  garrisoning  forts, 
and  sent  vessels  of  war  into  Charleston  Harbor.  On 
December  20,  Governor  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  de- 
fied the  President,  and  his  army  and  navy,  in  a  counter 
proclamation." 

An  Indian  war,  known  as  the  Black  Hawk  war,  had 
raged.  Cholera  had  scourged,  breaking  up  General 
Scott's  army  on  its  way  to  meet  Black  Hawk.  It  was 
easy  on  Dec.  25,  1832,  to  predict  these  things.  (3) 
But  the  prophecy  said  wars  will  shortly  come,  begin- 
ning with  the  rebellion  of  South  Carolina.  Only  one 
war  resulted  and  that  was  sometime  off. 

Again  "the  prophecy"  says  : 

"The  Southern  States  shall  be  divided  against  the 
Northern  States,  and  the  Southern  States  will  call  on 
other  nations,  even  the  nation  of  Great  Britain,  and 
they  shall  call  upon  other  nations,  etc.,  and  thus  war 
'shall  be  poured  out  upon  all  nations.'  " 

The  South  did  not  call  on  other  nations.  War  was 
not  "poured  out  on  all  nations."     Nor  did  the  predic- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  155 

tion  come  true  that  the  "remnant"  [Indians]  "who  are 
left  of  the  land  will  marshal  themselves  and  become 
exceeding  angry,  and  shall  vex  the  Gentiles  with  a  sore 
vexation."  Nor  did  the  slaves  "rise  up  against  their 
masters,  .    .    .  marshaled  and  disciplined  for  war." 

And  thus  is  it  seen  how  in  his  most  famous  proph- 
ecy Joseph  Smith,  if  he  was  a  prophet  at  all,  was  a 
"false  prophet" — such  as  was  predicted  by  Christ. 
(Matt.  xxiv.  II,  24.) 

One  prediction  attributed  to  him,  however,  seems  to 
have  come  true.  He  is  reported  to  have  said  some  time 
before  his  death:  "If  Brigham  Young  ever  becomes 
President  of  the  Church  he  will  lead  it  to  hell." 

As  to  Brigham  himself,  he  never  ventured  to  put 
dates  to  his  predictions  but  twice,  and  both  times  he 
came  to  grief.  The  second  time  was  when  on  the  Sun- 
day preceding  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Lee  he  predicted 
that  there  would  be  four  more  years  of  war! 

3.  But  the  Mormons  do  not  stop  with  apostles,  proph- 
ets, pastors,  teachers,  evangelists.  They  add  "etc,"  and 
that  "etc."  includes  a  good  deal.  It  includes  the  Mel- 
chisedec  and  Aaronic  priesthoods;  the  First  Presidency, 
with  the  President  of  the  church  and  his  two  Counsel- 
lors; the  Quorums  of  Seventies;  the  Patriarchs;  the 
Presidents  of  Stakes ;  Priests,  Bishops,  etc.,  etc.,  making 
a  curious  and  awkward  conglomeration  of  the  officials  of 
the  old  and  the  new  dispensations,  with  prophet  and 
apostle,  priest  and  bishop,  patriarch  and  pastor  side  by 
side.  They  propose  to  take  the  Bible  literally  and  claim 
to  get  these  offices  out  of  the  Bible.  But  I  should  like 
to  ask,  Where  does  the  Bible  speak  of  a  First  Presidency  ? 
Where  does  it  speak  of  two  Counsellors  to  the  First 
President?    Where  of  the  President  of  a  Stake? 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AS      A      RELIGIOUS       SYSTEM— GIFTS       OF 
TONGUES— VISIONS— HEALING,  ETC. 

The  seventh  article  of  faith  reads  as  follows : 

"We  believe  in  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecies,  revela- 
tions, visions,  healing,  interpretation  of  tongues,  etc." 

I  can  not  undertake  to  discuss  each  one  of  these 
points  at  length.  A  few  words  as  to  each,  perhaps, 
will  suffice. 

i.  The  gift  of  tongues.  By  this  the  Mormons  mean 
that  the  power  of  speaking  in  various  languages  is  given 
to  them  as  it  was  given  to  the  disciples  upon  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  But  if  that  be  true  it  is  strange  that 
they  never  exercise  the  gift.  It  is  true  that  some  of  them 
have  occasionally  claimed  to  have  it,  and  have  tried  to 
exercise  it.  Brigham  Young  was  the  first  to  make  this 
claim.  It  was  he  who  introduced  the  gift  of  speaking 
with  tongues.  At  first  missionaries  in  foreign  lands  at- 
tempted to  make  use  of  this  gift  without  taking  the 
trouble  to  learn  the  language  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  were  laboring.  Both  Orson  Pratt  and  Parley  P. 
Pratt  taught  that  they  would  be  able  to  do  so.  But 
finding  that  for  practical  purposes  the  gift  was  not  of 
much  value,  as  they  had  some  difficulty  in  making  them- 
selves understood,  they  concluded  that  it  would  prob- 
ably be  better  to  do  like  ordinary  mortals  and  learn  the 
language  of  the  people  to  whom  they  wished  to  speak. 
The  doctrine  of  speaking  with  tongues  is,  however,  still 
believed  by  the  Mormons,  and  occasionally  they  go 
through  the   farce  of  pretending  to  exercise  the  gift. 

156 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  157 

While  I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City  there  was  a  Mormon 
woman  who  in  a  public  meeting  at  Ogden  purported  to 
speak  with  tongues. 

But  if  all  reports  be  true  it  is  certainly  a  very  "un- 
known tongue"  in  which  they  all  speak.  It  sounds  more 
like  the  jabbering  of  a  year  old  child  or  the  chattering 
of  a  monkey  than  it  does  like  human  speech.  Mrs.  Sten- 
house  describes  the  performance  of  a  Sister  Ellis  in 
speaking  with  tongues  as  follows: 

"I  say  'speak/  as  that  term  is  generally  applied  to 
the  utterances  of  the  human  voice ;  but  she  did  not  speak 
in  the  sense  in  which  we  always  employ  that  word; 
she  simply  emitted  a  series  of  sounds.  They  seemed 
to  me  chiefly  the  repetition  of  the  same  syllables — some- 
thing like  a  child  repeating,  la,  la,  la,  le,  lo;  ma,  ma,  ma, 
mi,  ma;  dele,  dele,  dele,  hela — followed,  perhaps,  by  a 
number  of  sounds  strung  together,  which  could  not  be 
rendered  in  any  shape  by  the  pen.  Sometimes  in  the 
Far  West,  in  later  years,  I  have  heard  old  Indian  women, 
crooning  wierdly  monotonous  and  outlandish  ditties  in 
their  native  tongue.  These  wild  dirges,  more  nearly  than 
anything  else  I  ever  heard,  resemble  the  prophetic  utter- 
ances of  Sister  Ellis;  save  only,  that  the  appearance  of 
the  latter  was  far  too  solemn  to  admit  of  even  a  smile 
at  what  she  said." 

2.  The  interpretation  of  tongues  referred  to  in  the 
article  of  faith  is  the  power,  as  claimed  by  the  Mormons, 
to  interpret  the  speech  of  those  who  talk  in  an  unknown 
tongue.  Whenever  any  one  speaks  thus  some  one  else 
is  apt  to  interpret  his  speech.  The  result  is  often  very 
ludicrous,  making  the  first  speaker  say  some  wild  and 
ridiculous  things,  which,  as  he  claims  to  be  inspired  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  will  be  attributed  to  the  Spirit,  and 
which  are  little  short  of  blasphemy. 


i58  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

3.  In  discussing  the  6th  article  I  spoke  about  proph- 
ets, and  so  I  need  not  dwell  here  upon  the  subject  of 
prophecy.  I  shall  discuss  the  subject  of  revelation  later 
on  in  speaking  of  the  ninth  article. 

4.  As  to  visions.  Joseph  Smith  claimed  to  have  them, 
and  so  have  some  other  Mormons,  but  none  of  these 
claims  has  been  well  authenticated,  and  I  do  not  think 
that  the  claim  is  put  forth  to  any  considerable  extent 
now.  It  is  true  that  the  Lord  did  sometimes  speak  to 
his  people  in  the  former  times  in  visions  and  dreams, 
but  that  was  before  he  had  given  the  written  revelation 
of  his  will  to  them.  Since  that  has  been  given  he  speaks 
both  through  that  revelation  and  through  His  Spirit, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  as  a  rule,  the  visions 
and  dreams  which  the  Mormons  and  others  claim  to  have 
now  are  the  result  either  of  an  excited  imagination  or 
of  a  disordered  stomach. 

5.  The  gift  of  healing.  The  Mormon  elders  claim  to 
possess  this  gift  now.  They  propose  to  carry  out  liter- 
ally the  injunction  of  James  to  lay  their  hands  upon 
the  sick,  and  anoint  him  with  oil  and  he  shall  be  healed. 
This  passage  in  James  is  of  very  difficult  and  doubtful 
interpretation.  There  are  various  views  with  reference 
to  it.  Some,  like  the  Mormons,  take  it  in  its  strict  literal 
sense,  and  if  the  person  is  not  healed,  they  claim  that 
the  person  did  not  have  faith  enough. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage  says: 

"Another  gift,  allied  to  this,  is  the  power  of  exercis- 
ing faith  to  be  healed;  which  is  manifested  in  varying 
degrees.  Not  always  are  the  administrations  of  the  el- 
ders followed  by  immediate  healing;  the  afflicted  may 
be  permitted  to  suffer  in  body,  perhaps,  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  Divine  purposes,  and  in  the  time  appointed 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  159 

of  the  Lord,  His  children  pass  through  bodily  death. 
But  let  the  counsels  of  God  be  observed  in  administering 
to  the  afflicted;  then  if  they  recover,  they  live  unto  the 
Lord ;  and  the  assuring  promise  is  added  that  those  who 
die  under  such  conditions  die  unto  the  Lord." 

Others  think  that  the  gift  of  healing  passed  away  with 
the  days  of  miracles  at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  period. 
Miracles,  they  say,  are  given  only  to  attest  revelations. 
There  have  been  three  general  periods  of  miracles.  (1) 
In  the  time  of  Moses.  (2)  In  the  time  of  Elijah.  (3) 
In  the  time  of  Christ.  Their  purpose  was  to  attest  the 
law  and  the  prophets  and  the  gospel.  Still  others  think 
that  the  anointing  of  oil  to  which  James  refers  was 
the  use  of  medicine,  and  that  when  we  call  in  a  physician 
now  and  take  the  medicine  which  he  gives,  we  are  carry- 
ing out  in  spirit  the  injunction  of  James.  At  any  rate, 
whatever  be  the  interpretation  of  the  passage,  it  is  very 
certain  that  the  Mormons  do  not  possess  the  gift  of  heal- 
ing to  any  great  extent.  There  have  been  instances  of 
persons  who  were  apparently  healed  by  them,  but  these 
cures  might  be  attributed  largely  to  psychological,  or  as 
they  are  commonly  called,  mesmeric,  influences — for  the 
Mormon  elders,  nearly  all  of  them,  are  possessed  with 
this  kind  of  gift.  They  have  a  great  deal  of  animal  mag- 
netism, or  hypnotism,  or  by  whatever  name  it  may  be 
called.  But  certain  it  is  that  the  Mormons  do  not  rely 
upon  this  gift  of  healing  now  to  cure  their  sick.  There 
is  the  usual  number  of  practicing  physicians  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  The  third  wife  of  Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts  is  a 
practicing  physician,  Dr.  Maggie  C.  Shipp  Roberts.  And 
thus  they  show  that  they  do  not  have  faith  in  their  own 
principle.  It  is  one  thing  to  preach  it  and  another  to 
practice  it. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— ITS  BELIEF  AS  TO 
THE  BIBLE— BOOK  OF  MORMON— TESTI^ 
MONIES  AS  TO  ORIGIN. 

The  eighth  article  in  the  Mormon  creed  savs : 
"We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God  as  far 
as  it  is  translated  correctly.    We  also  believe  the  Book 
of  Mormon  to  be  the  Word  of  God.,, 

"We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God."  So 
they  claim.  But  do  they? 
Let  us  take  a  passage  from  the  Book  of  Mormon : 
"And  my  words  shall  hiss  forth  unto  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  for  a  standard  unto  my  people,  which  are  of  the 
house  of  Israel.  And  because  my  words  shall  hiss  forth, 
many  of  the  Gentiles  shall  say,  a  Bible,  a  Bible,  we  have 
got  a  Bible,  and  there  cannot  be  any  more  Bible.  But 
thus  saith  the  Lord  God:  O  fools,  they  shall  have  a 
Bible;  and  it  shall  proceed  forth  from  the  Jews,  mine 
ancient  covenant  people.  And  what  thank  they  the  Jews 
for  the  Bible  which  they  receive  from  them?  . 
Thou  fool,  that  shall  say  a  Bible,  we  have  got  a  Bible, 
and  we  need  no  more  Bible.  Have  ye  obtained  a  Bible, 
save  it  were  by  the  Jews?  Know  ye  not  that  there  are 
more  nations  than  one?  Know  ye  not  that  I,  the  Lord, 
your  God,  have  created  all  men,  and  that  I  remember 
those  who  are  upon  the  isles  of  the  sea;  and  that  I  rule 
in  the  heavens  above,  and  in  the  earth  beneath ;  and  that 
I  bring  forth  my  word  unto  the  children  of  men,  yea, 
even  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ?    Wherefore  mur- 

160 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  161 

mur  ye,  because  that  ye  shall  receive  more  of  my  word? 
Know  ye  not  that  the  testimony  of  two  nations  is  a 
witness  unto  you  that  I  am  God,  that  I  remember  one 
nation  like  unto  another?  Wherefore  I  speak  the  same 
words  unto  one  nation  like  unto  another.  And  when 
the  two  nations  shall  run  together  the  testimony  of 
the  two  nations  shall  run  together  also.  And  I  do  this 
that  I  may  prove  unto  many  that  I  am  the  same  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  forever ;  and  that  I  speak  forth  my  words 
according  to  mine  own  pleasure.  And  because  that  I 
have  spoken  one  word,  ye  need  not  suppose  that  I  can- 
not speak  another;  for  my  work  is  not  yet  finished; 
neither  shall  it  be  until  the  end  of  man!  neither  from 
that  time  henceforth  and  forever. 

"Wherefore,  because  that  ye  have  a  Bible,  ye  need 
not  suppose  that  it  contains  all  my  words;  neither  need 
ye  suppose  that  I  have  not  caused  more  to  be  written: 
for  I  command  all  men,  both  in  the  east  and  in  the 
west,  and  in  the  north  and  in  the  south,  and  in  the  islands 
of  the  sea,  that  they  shall  write  the  words  which  I  speak 
unto  them;  for  out  of  the  books  which  shall  be  written, 
I  will  judge  the  world,  every  man  according  to  their 
works,  according  to  that  which  is  written.  For  behold, 
I  shall  speak  unto  the  Jews,  and  they  shall  write  it; 
and  I  shall  also  speak  unto  the  Nephites,  and  they  shall 
write  it;  and  I  shall  also  speak  unto  the  other  tribes 
of  the  house  of  Israel,  which  I  have  led  away,  and  they 
shall  write  it;  and  I  shall  also  speak  unto  all  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  they  shall  write  it."— 2  Nephi  29:  2-12. 

As  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Lamb,  a  Baptist  minister,  for- 
merly of  Salt  Lake  City,  in  his  "Golden  Bible"— from 
which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  frequently — this 
passage  means  that  the  Bible  is  not  all  the  Word  of 


162  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

God,  and  also  that  it  is  only  the  Bible  of  the  Jews,  and 
not  the  Bible  of  the  other  nations  of  the  world.  While 
in  a  certain  sense  it  belongs  to  the  whole  world,  just 
as  each  of  these  other  ''Bibles,"  when  written,  will  be- 
long to  the  whole  world,  yet  primarily  and  of  first  import- 
ance to  each  separate  nation  will  be  the  "Bible"  especially 
prepared  for  that  nation.  So  that  to  us,  and  to  all  the 
world  aside  from  the  Jews,  the  Bible  is  of  secondary  im- 
portance. 

And  so  other  passages  might  be  quoted  to  show  the 
same  thing.    Says  Rev.  M.  L.  Oswalt,  an  ex-Mormon : 

"The  truth  of  the  whole  matter  is  simply  this :  Mor- 
monism  discards  the  Bible  as  containing  the  plan  of 
salvation  for  us.  They  accept  it  as  true  history,  and 
the  will  of  God  to  those  to  whom  it  was  directly  re- 
vealed, but  that  it  is  of  no  binding  force  to  the  people 
of  this  age  of  the  world." 

But  the  Mormons  add:  "We  believe  the  Bible  to  be 
the  Word  of  God  as  far  as  it  is  translated  correctly/' 

This  may  mean  that  the  Bible  wras  originally  written 
in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  was  translated  into  English 
by  fallible  men,  who  made  mistakes  in  the  translation, 
but  that  in  the  original  manuscripts  it  was  the  inspired 
Word  of  God.  If  this  were  what  it  was  intended  to 
mean  and  all  it  was  intended  to  mean,  there  would  be 
no  objection  to  it.  Every  one  would  agree  with  the 
position  thus  taken.  But  this  is  not  all  that  is  meant 
by  a  good  deal.  Joseph  Smith  claimed  that  there  were 
gross  errors  in  the  Bible  translation,  and  he  started  out 
to  make  a  Bible  for  himself. 

His  work  was  in  MS.  awaitng  publication  at  his  death, 
but  when  the  division  of  the  church  came  at  Nauvoo, 
the  Josephites  seized  the  MS.  and  left  the  unfortunate 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  163 

Brighamites  to  fall  back  upon  the  "faulty"  King  James 
translation.     A  few  extracts  from  Smith's    translation 
as  they  appear  in  some  of  their  standard  works,  may  be 

of  interest.  _    , 

Gen    1  26,  in  the  common  version  reads,     And  God 
said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness. 
Smith  translates,  "And  I,  God,  said  unto  mine  Only  Be- 
gotten   which  was  with  me  from  the  beginning,  let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,  and  it  was 

so  " 

In  the  next  place  he  "translates"  something  that  is 
altogether  foreign  to  anything  found  in  the  Bible.     Here 
it  is  •     "After  Adam  had  been  driven  out  of  the  garden 
he  began  to  till  the  earth,  and  to  have  dominion  over  all 
the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  to  eat  his  bread  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow,  as  I,  the  Lord,  had  commanded  him:     And 
he  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  so  did  Eve, 
his  wife   also.     And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord, 
from  the  way  toward  the  Garden  of  Eden,   speaking 
unto  them,  and  they  saw  him  not,  for  they  were  shut 
out  from  his  presence ;  and  he  gave  unto  them  command- 
ments that  they  should  worship  the  Lord  their  God,  and 
should  offer  the  firstlings  of  their  flocks  for  an  offering 
unto  the  Lord.     And  Adam  was  obedient  unto  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord.     And  after  many  days   an  an- 
crel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Adam,  saying,  Why  dost 
fhou  offer  sacrifices  unto  the  Lord?     And  Adam  said 
unto  him,  I  know  not,  save  the  Lord  commanded  me. 
And  then  the  angel  spake,  saying,  This  thing  is  a  simili- 
tude of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Only  Begotten  of  the ^  Father, 
who  is  full  of  grace  and  truth.     And  thou  shalt  do  a 
that  thou  doest  in  the  name  of  the  Son,  and  thou  shalt 
repent  and  call  upon  God  in  the  name  of  the  Son  for 


164  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

evermore.  And  in  that  day  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon 
Adam,  which  beareth  record  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son."  This  is  a  remarkable  piece  of  Scripture  building, 
which  Smith  attempted  to  foist  upon  the  book  of  Gene- 
sis. 

Again,  Exod.  32 :20,  which  reads,  "And  he  said,  Thou 
canst  not  see  my  face:  for  there  shall  no  man  see  me, 
and  live,"  Smith  "translates":  "The  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face  at  this  time,  lest 
my  anger  be  kindled  against  thee  also,  and  I  destroy 
thee  and  thy  people.  There  shall  no  man  among  them 
see  me  at  this  time  and  live,  for  they  are  exceeding  sin- 
ful, and  no  sinful  man  hath  at  any  time  [seen],  neither 
shall  there  be  any  sinful  man  at  any  time  that  shall  see 
my  face  and  live." 

And  this  was  what  Joseph  Smith  meant  when  he  said 
that  the  Bible  was  the  Word  of  God  "as  far  as  it  is 
translated  correctly." 

"We  also  believe  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  be  the 
Word  of  God."  The  Book  of  Mormon!  What  is  the 
Book  of  Mormon  ?  In  Chapter  1  I  gave  some  account  of 
its  origin.  In  brief,  it  was  written  by  Solomon  Spauld- 
ing,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  as  a  romance  purporting  to 
account  for  the  origin  of  the  Indian  Mounds.  It  was 
called  the  "Manuscript  Found,"  and  claimed  to  have  been 
discovered  in  one  of  the  mounds.  This  was  all  very 
pretty  as  a  romance.  But  Sidney  Rigdon,  a  Campbellite 
preacher,  got  hold  of  the  manuscript  at  the  printing  office 
of  Patterson  &  Lamdin,  took  it  home  and  emended  it 
by  giving  it  a  doctrinal  turn,  putting  in  a  good  many 
Scriptural  quotations.  He  then  persuaded  Joseph  Smith, 
the  well-digger  and  professed  seer,  to  father  it,  which 
he  did,  but  changed  the  manuscript  to  golden  plates. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  165 

Smith  pretended  to  dictate  from  the  plates  to  Martin 
Harris  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  his  scribes,  while  he  was 
hidden  behind  a  bed  blanket.  So  we  should  expect  to 
find  in  the  book  the  romance  of  Solomon  Spaulding, 
the  doctrinal  views  of  Sidney  Rigdon  and  the  style  of 
Joseph  Smith.  But  before  I  proceed  to  examine  the 
book,  I  give  the  following  letter  from  Dr.  Z.  C.  Graves 
as  strong  confirmatory  testimony  to  the  origin  of  the 
book,  as  stated  above.  Dr.  Graves  was  for  nearly  forty 
years  the  able  president  of  Mary  Sharp  College,  at  Win- 
chester, Tenn.     He  says: 

"Winchester,  Jan.  19,  1900. 
Rev.  Edgar  E.  Folk,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Dear  Brother:  In  compliance  with  your  request 
of  January  13th,  I  make  the  following  statements  in  ref- 
erence to  the  'Mormon  Bible' : 

"Mrs.  A.  C.  Graves,  my  wife,  was  the  daughter  of 
Daniel  M.  Spencer,  a  celebrated  physician  of  Kingsville, 
Ashtabula  County,  Ohio.  The  doctor  was  devoted  to 
literature.  He  had  a  patient  by  the  name  of  Solomon 
Spaulding  living  in  Coneaut,  a  village  about  eight  miles 
from  Kingsville,  who  died  with  a  lingering  consumption 
while  under  Dr.  Spencer's  treatment.  Spaulding  was 
a  scholar  of  no  meager  attainments,  having  a  family  of 
several  children  and  not  blessed  with  much  of  this  world's 
goods;  hence  he  was  greatly  worried  about  his  family. 
Spaulding  and  the  doctor  conceived  the  plan  to  have 
Spaulding  write  a  romance,  or  a  novel,  about  the  lost 
tribes  of  Israel  wandering  to  this  country,  of  whose  works 
our  antiquities  are  the  results.  This  was  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  romance.  Mrs.  Graves  often  accompanied 
her  father  on  his  visits  to  his  patient,  Spaulding,  who 
read  to  the  doctor  what  he   had  written  between  the 


166  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

intervals  of  his  visits,  for  his  criticism  and  suggestions, 
Mrs.  Graves  listening  and  becoming  very  much  inter- 
ested in  the  narrative.  When  the  narrative,  or  romance, 
was  finished,  the  manuscript  was  sent  to  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
for  publication,  if  terms  could  be  determined  upon;  but 
very  soon  after  the  manuscript  was  sent,  Spaulding  died. 
The  manuscript  was  found  in  the  printer's  office  by  a 
man  named  Rigdon,  who  conceived  the  plan  of  making 
it  a  'Mormon  Bible/  changing  the  language  from  its 
common  style  to  the  sacred. 

"When  the  'Mormon  Bible'  was  published  Mrs.  Graves 
and  her  father  recognized  the  fraud.  I  believe  that 
the  plot  or  plan  of  the  'Mormon  Bible'  was  concocted 
or  conceived  by  Spaulding  and  Dr.  Spencer,  designing 
it  to  be  a  romance,  or  novel,  to  be  published  for  the 
benefit  of  Spaulding's  family.  The  idea  that  it  would 
ever  be  used  as  it  has  been,  and  is  now,  was  never  even 
dreamed  of  by  them.  Dr.  Spencer  has  been  dead  fifty 
years  and  his  daughter  four  years.  None  of  the  witnesses 
are  now  living,  so  far  as  I  know.  Z.  C.  Graves/' 

But  here  is  the  statement  of  John  Spaulding,  the 
brother  of  Solomon  Spaulding: 

"Solomon  Spaulding  (my  brother)  was  born  in  Ash- 
ford,  Conn.,  in  1 761,  and  in  early  life  contracted  a 
taste  for  literary  pursuits.  He  entered  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, where  he  obtained  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  and  was 
afterwards  regularly  ordained.  After  preaching  three 
or  four  years  he  commenced  the  mercantile  business. 
In  a  few  years  he  failed  in  business,  and  in  1809  removed 
to  Conneaut,  O.  The  year  following  I  found  him  en- 
gaged in  building  a  forge.  I  made  him  a  visit  in  about 
three  years  after  and  found  that  he  had  failed  and  was 
considerably  involved    in    debt.       He  then  told  me  he 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  167 

had  been  writing  a  book,  which  he  intended  to  have 
printed,  the  avails  of  which  he  thought  would  enable 
him  to  pay  all  his  debts.  The  book  was  entitled  the 
''Manuscript  Found,"  of  which  he  read  to  me  many  pages. 
It  was  an  historical  romance  of  the  first  settlers  of  Amer- 
ica, endeavoring  to  show  that  the  American  Indians  are 
the  descendants  of  the  Jews  or  the  lost  tribes.  It  gave 
a  detailed  account  of  their  journey  from  Jerusalem,  by 
land  and  sea,  till  they  arrived  in  America,  under  the 
command  of  Nephi  and  Lehi.  They  afterwards  had 
quarrels  and  contentions  and  separated  into  two  distinct 
nations,  one  of  which  he  denominated  Nephites  and  the 
other  Lamanites.  Cruel  and  bloody  wars  ensued,  in 
which  great  multitudes  were  slain.  They  buried  their 
dead  in  large  heaps,  which  caused  the  mounds  so  com- 
mon in  this  country.  Their  arts,  sciences  and  civiliza- 
tion were  brought  into  view  in  order  to  account  for  all 
the  antiquities  found  in  various  parts  of  North  and  South 
America.  I  have  recently  read  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
and,  to  my  great  surprise,  I  find  nearly  the  same  histori- 
cal matter,  names,  etc.,  as  they  were  in  my  brother's 
writings.  I  well  remember  that  he  wrote  in  the  old 
style,  and  commenced  about  every  sentence  with  "And 
it  came  to  pass/  or  'Now  it  came  to  pass,'  the  same  as 
in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  according  to  the  best  of 
my  recollection  and  belief  it  is  the  same  as  my  brother 
wrote,  with  the  exception  of  the  religious  matter.', 

Here  also  is  the  testimony  of  Henry  Lake.  It  is  dated 
Conneaut,  O.,  September,  1833: 

"I  left  the  State  of  New  York  late  in  the  year  1810, 
and  arrived  at  this  place  about  the  first  of  January  fol- 
lowing. Soon  after  my  arrival  I  formed  a  copartner- 
ship with  Solomon  Spaulding  for  the  purpose  of  rebuild- 


168  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ing  a  forge.  He-  very  frequently  read  to  me  from  a 
manuscript  which  he  was  writing,  which  he  entitled  the 
'Manuscript  Found,' and  which  he  represented  as  being 
found  in  his  town.  I  spent  many  hours  in  hearing  him 
read  said  writings  and  became  well  acquainted  with  its 
contents.  He  wished  me  to  assist  him  in  getting  his 
production  printed,  alleging  that  a  book  of  that  kind 
would  meet  with  a  rapid  sale.  This  book  represented 
the  American  Indians  as  the  descendants  of  the  lost 
tribes,  gave  an  account  of  their  leaving  Jerusalem,  their 
contentions  and  wars.  One  time,  when  he  was  reading 
to  me  the  tragic  account  of  Laban,  I  pointed  out  to 
him  what  I  considered  an  inconsistency,  which  he  prom- 
ised to  correct;  but  by  referring  to  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, I  find,  to  my  surprise,  that  it  stands  there  just  as 
he  read  it  to  me  then.  Some  months  ago  I  borrowed 
the  Golden  Bible,  put  it  into  my  pocket,  carried  it  home 
and  thought  no  more  of  it.  About  a  week  after,  my 
wife  found  the  book  in  my  coat  pocket  and  commenced 
reading  it  aloud  as  I  lay  upon  the  bed.  She  had  not 
read  twenty  minutes  till  I  was  astonished  to  find  the 
same  passages  in  it  that  Spaulding  had  read  to  me  more 
than  twenty  years  before,  from  his  'Manuscript  Found.' 
Since  that  I  have  more  fully  examined  the  said  Golden 
Bible  and  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  histor- 
ical part  of  it  is  principally,  if  not  wholly,  taken  from 
the  'Manuscript  Found.'  I  recollect  telling  Mr.  Spauld- 
ing that  the  so  frequent  use  of  the  words,  'And  it  came  to 
pass,'  'Now  it  came  to  pass/  rendered  it  ridiculous." 

I  could  give  other  similar  statements,  if  necessary.  But" 
these  are  sufficient  to  establish  beyond  a  doubt  the  fraud- 
ulent character  of  the  Book  of  Mormon, 

I  know  the  Mormons  claim  that  there  is  now  in  Ober- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  169 

lin  College,  Ohio,  a  manuscript  discovered  by  Apostle 
Joseph  F.  Smith,  in  Honolulu,  which  is  the  original 
copy  of  the  "Manuscript  Found,"  and  which  bears  just 
enough  resemblance  to  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  lead 
persons  who  heard  it  read  to  say  that  it  was  the  same, 
but  which  at  the  same  time  is  quite  different  from  it. 
But  their  claim  is  false.  There  is  a  manuscript  in  Ober- 
lin  College  which  was  written  by  Solomon  Spaulding, 
but  it  is  quite  a  different  one  from  the  "Manuscript 
Found,"  and  could  hardly  have  suggested  to  these  many 
witnesses  the  Book  of  Mormon.  Sidney  Rigdon  and 
Joseph  Smith  were  the  only  persons  who  could  have 
told  what  became  of  the  "Manuscript  Found." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— THE  BOOK  OF  MOR- 
MON—OUTLINE OF  BOOK— "REFORMED 
EGYPTIAN"— EVIDENCES  OF  FRAUDU- 
LENT CHARACTER. 

And  now  to  the  Book  of  Mormon.  It  lies  at  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Mormon  Church.  The  Apostle  Orson  Pratt 
said: 

"The  nature  of  the  message  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  is 
such  that,  if  true,  no  one  can  possibly  be  saved  and  reject 
it;  if  false,  no  one  can  possibly  be  saved  and  receive  it. 
Therefore,  every  soul  in  all  the  world  is  equally  interested 
in  ascertaining  its  truth  or  falsity." 

It  claims  to  be  superior  to  the  Bible  in  that — 

1.  It  was  infallibly  translated. 

2.  It  has  many  important  predictions  not  found  in  the 
Bible. 

3.  Many  points  of  doctrine  more  clearly  revealed. 

4.  It  restores  the  "many  parts,  plain  and  most  pre- 
cious," which  were  eliminated  from  the  Bible  at  the  close 
of  the  first  century  after  Christ. 

What,  then,  is  the  Book  of  Mormon  ?  The  following 
is  a  general  outline  of  it  as  given  by  Mr.  Lamb,  which  I 
follow  as  perhaps  the  best  outline  that  could  be  made  of 
the  book  in  a  brief  compass.  Mr.  Lamb  has  made  the 
most  thorough  study  of  the  book  of  any  one,  and  at  the 
same  time  has  made  the  most  thorough  exposure  of  it. 

It  is  divided  into  fifteen  books,  after  the  method  of  the 
Bible.  The  next  to  the  last  book,  called  the  Book  of 
Ether,  contains  the  earliest  record. 

170 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  171 

This  book  tells  us  of  a  party  numbering  between  twenty 
and  thirty,  under  the  direction  of  the  brother  of  Jared, 
leaving  Asia  at  the  command  of  God,  about  one  hundred 
years  after  the  flood,  just  after  the  confusion  of  tongues, 
as  related  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.  They  embark  in  eight 
strangely  constructed  arks  or  barges ;  and  after  drifting 
344  days  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  they  land  upon  this 
North  American  Continent,  where  they  and  their  descend- 
ants remained  for  fifteen  hundred  years;  became  very 
numerous,  spread  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  continent 
and  developed  a  somewhat  advanced  civilization.  But 
dividing  into  two  powerful  parties  or  nations,  able  to 
muster  and  thoroughly  equip  an  army  of  two  million  sol- 
diers each — they  became  involved  in  a  fierce  war  of  exter- 
mination, which  resulted  in  the  entire  annihilation  of  both 
nations,  leaving  the  country  a  desolate  waste — one  man 
alone  surviving  the  terrible  destruction — whose  name  was 
Coriantumr. 

About  the  time  this  terrible  war  was  desolating  North 
America,  a  second  party,  made  up  of  two  families,  Lehi 
and  Ishmael,  leave  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  King  of  Judah,  six  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  and  after  wandering  eight  years  in 
the  desert  of  Arabia,  embark  in  a  ship  of  peculiar  construc- 
tion, drift  across  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and  land 
upon  the  western  shore  of  South  America.  These  two 
families  having  intermarried,  begin  rapidly  to  multiply. 
Within  twenty  years,  however,  they  also  divide  into  two 
rival  nations,  known  for  a  thousand  years  afterwards  as 
the  Nephites  and  the  Lamanites,  named  from  the  two 
brothers  Nephi  and  Laman,  who  led  in  the  quarrel  and 
divided  the  two  families. 

About  nine  years  after  Lehi  and  his  company  leave 


i72  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Jerusalem,  a  third  party,  headed  by  one  of  King  Zede- 
kiah's  sons,  also  leave  Jerusalem,  cross  the  ocean  and  set- 
tle in  the  land  of  Zarahemla,  somewhere  in  the  region  of 
Central  America,  or  the  northern  coasts  of  South 
America. 

After  four  hundred  years  they  are  accidentally  discov- 
ered by  a  party  of  Nephites,  who  are  traveling  northward ; 
and  after  a  time  the  two  nations  become  one  under  the 
old  title  of  Nephites.  All  these  peoples  rapidly  increase ; 
the  Lamanites  eventually  covering  the  entire  South  Amer- 
ican continent,  while  the  Nephites  gradually  extend  north- 
ward until  the  greater  portion  of  North  America  is  occu- 
pied by  them. 

The  Book  of  Mormon,  with  the  exception  of  the  single 
Book  of  Ether  already  mentioned,  is  the  professed  his- 
tory of  these  two  peoples.  The  Lamanites,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  their  separate  history,  were  cursed  by  the 
Almighty  with  a  "skin  of  blackness" — became  a  wild, 
ignorant,  ferocious  people,  and  the  ancestors  of  the  present 
Indian  races.  While  the  Nephites  are  represented  as 
God's  greatest  favorites,  enjoying  advantages  and  favors 
such  as  no  other  people  under  heaven  ever  enjoyed — fur- 
nishing a  list  of  kings,  judges,  prophets,  apostles  and 
martyrs  such  as  have  never  been  found  upon  earth  in  any 
age  or  country.  Christian  churches  were  organized,  bap- 
tism by  immersion  administered,  and  all  the  blessings  and 
privileges  of  the  New  Testament  dispensation  enjoyed, 
with  the  peculiar  gifts  of  speaking  with  tongues,  prophe- 
sying, performing  miracles,  and  such  like,  hundreds  of 
years  before  the  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  flesh. 

A  few  years  after  Jesus'  crucifixion,  resurrection  and 
ascension  in  Judea,  he  appeared  to  His  people  upon  this 
continent  in  his  human  body,  and  remained  here  forty 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  173 

days,  preaching,  performing  miracles,  ordaining  twelve 
apostles,  and  otherwise  establishing  the  faith  of  His  peo- 
ple. And  a  few  years  after  the  whole  country  is  reported 
converted — the  entire  population  of  both  continents,  the 
Lamanites  of  South  America  and  the  Nephites  of  North 
America  are  enrolled  in  Christian  churches.  And  for 
nearly  two  hundred  years  a  regular  full-blown  millennium 
is  enjoyed.  The  arts  of  war  being  forgotten,  peace,  purity 
and  religious  culture  are  universal.  But  increased  wealth 
and  prosperity  brought  religious  declension,  and  by  and 
by  apostacy  from  the  faith.  The  apostates  assumed  the  old 
name  of  Lamanites,  and  their  old  hatred  of  religion  and 
religious  people.  This  opposition  increased  in  numbers 
and  in  power,  until  war,  relentless  and  cruel,  again  filled 
the  land  with  bloodshed  and  desolation.  This  resulted,  in 
the  year  384  A.  D.,  in  the  complete  destruction  of  the 
Nephites  and  all  there  was  left  of  the  religious  element — 
leaving  the  infidel  Lamanites,  who  had  already  become 
wild,  barbarous  and  bloodthirsty,  in  full  possession  of 
both  continents,  where  they  were  found  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  America  by  Columbus. 

Now  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Nephite  forces  was 
a  prophet  by  the  name  of  Mormon.  Before  this  exter- 
minating war  had  ended,  Mormon  gathered  up  all  the 
records  of  his  predecessors,  the  kings  and  prophets  and 
judges  who  had  been  inspired  of  God  to  write  either  his- 
tory or  prophecy,  or  vision  or  exhortation — and  made  a 
careful  abridgment  of  their  writings  down  to  his  own 
time;  and  engraved  this  abridged  record  upon  golden 
plates.  These  plates  he  turned  over  to  his  son  Moroni, 
who  commanded  one  division  of  the  Nephite  army  under 
his  father.  This  son  finished  his  father's  record,  and,  when 
completed,  hid  the  whole  in  the  sacred  hill  Cumorah,  near 


174  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Palmyra,  New  York.  There  they  remained  fourteen  hun- 
dred years,  until  discovered  by  the  prophet  Joseph  Smith, 
and  by  him  translated  into  our  language. 

This  accounts  for  the  name  of  the  book,  the  Book  of 
Mormon — while  the  book  gives  the  name  to  the  people, 
the  Mormons.  Moroni  was  raised  from  the  dead  in  the 
form  of  an  angel  for  the  special  purpose  of  showing  Mr. 
Smith  where  said  plates  had  been  hidden,  and  assist  him 
in  translating  them  into  our  language. 

This  all  sounds  very  nonsensical,  but  remember  that  it 
was  simply  a  romance  evolved  out  of  the  fertile  imagina- 
tion of  Solomon  Spaulding.  As  such  it  is  quite  interest- 
ing. 

Now  let  us  study  the  Book  of  Mormon  more  closely. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  not 
in  the  Book  of  Mormon  at  all.  The  reason  of  this,  as  I 
have  previously  explained,  is  that  after  Smith  had  dictated 
116  pages  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  Martin  Harris,  Mrs. 
Harris  got  hold  of  the  manuscript  and  either  destroyed  it 
or  would  not  return  it.  So  Smith  decided  to  leave  the 
Book  of  Mormon  out  entirely;  saying  that  if  he  should 
translate  it  again  his  enemies  would  publish  this  manu- 
script with  alterations,  to  make  people  believe  that  he 
could  not  translate  it  the  same  way  twice.  And  so  the 
Book  of  Mormon  begins  with  the  first  book  of  Nephi. 
The  second  verse  of  the  book  shows  it  to  be  a  fraud.  It 
reads:  "Yea,  I  make  a  record  in  the  language  of  my 
father,  which  consists  of  the  learning  of  the  Jews  and  the 
language  of  the  Egyptians/'  The  Book  of  Mormon  pur- 
ports to  be  written  by  Jews  and  to  contain  the  record  of 
the  descendants  of  Jews.  But  still  it  is  written  in  the 
Egyptian  language,  though  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
the  Jews  have  the  utmost  veneration  for  their  own  Ian- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  175 

guage  and  the  utmost  hatred  for  everything  Egyptian,  and 
certainly  would  hardly  have  used  the  Egyptian  language 
in  which  to  record  their  learning,  together  with  their  re- 
ligious history  and  principles.  But  it  is  claimed  that  it 
was  "Reformed  Egyptian,"  and  that  Martin  Harris  sub- 
mitted a  paper  containing  some  of  the  hieroglyphics  to  the 
distinguished  scholar,  Prof.  Anthon,  and  he  pronounced 
them  Reformed  Egyptian  hieroglyphics.  But  Prof.  An- 
thon says :  "The  whole  story  about  my  having  pronounced 
the  Mormonite  inscription  to  be  'Reformed  Egyptian 
Hieroglyphics'  is  perfectly  false/'  A  paper  was  submitted 
to  him,  but  he  says  that  it  "contained  anything  else  but 
'Egyptian  hieroglyphics.'  " 

These  hieroglyphics  bear  on  their  face  evidence  of  the 
clumsiest  fraud.    Some  of  them  no  mortal  man  could  de- 
cipher.   Others  it  would  hardly  require  the  aid  of  a  Urim 
and  Thummim  to  read.  Take  the  last  several  "21x4—" 
—he  ought  to  have  added  "25"  to  make  the  equation  com- 
plete.   But  notice  that  this  Reformed  Egyptian  language 
was  the  universal  language  of  the  people  of  this  continent 
when  Mormon  and  Moroni  compiled  the  Book  of  Mormon 
1,500  years  ago.    Nephi  and  Laman,  being  brothers,  must 
have  spoken  the  same  language.     The  place  where  this 
Reformed  Egyptian  language  was  supposed  to  have  been 
spoken  and  written  was  Central  America  and  the  northern 
part  of  South  America.     We  have  some  of  the  hiero- 
glyphics of  these  countries  at  that  period,  taken  from 
idols,  tablets,  books,  etc.    They  bear  no  resemblance  what- 
ever to  those  which  Joseph  Smith  says  were  in  actual 
use  there  at  that  time.    Which  was  mistaken,  Joseph  Smith 
or  the  records  in  brass  and  stone?    It  is  strange  also  that 
there  is  no  record  in  those  countries  of  any  people  by  the 
names  given  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.    If  people  by  those 


176  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

names  had  been  so  numerous  and  so  powerful  there,  cer- 
tainly there  ought  to  be  some  trace  of  their  names  in  the 
literature  and  in  the  present  names  of  the  country.  There 
are  plenty  of  names,  but  they  are  very  different  from 
those  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  And  so  as  to  the 
names  of  cities  and  countries.  The  names  preserved  in 
the  traditions  of  the  natives  and  in  all  their  writings  are 
utterly  unlike  those  given  in  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

In  Palestine  and  other  Bible  lands  the  names  of  the 
cities  are  preserved  very  much  as  given  in  the  Bible,  so 
that  they  can  readily  be  identified,  thus  constituting  a 
powerful  testimony  to  the  truthfulness  of  the  Bible.  But 
not  so  with  the  names  of  cities  given  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon. Not  a  single  one  of  them  can  be  recognized  in  the 
present  names  of  cities  in  the  countries  where  they  are 
said  to  have  existed.  The  conclusion  is  irresistible  that 
there  were  never  any  cities  there  by  those  names,  that 
they  are  myths,  and  consequently  that  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon is  simply  a  romance,  and  as  a  religious  book  is  a  pure 
fraud. 

There  are  so  many  evidences  of  its  fraudulent  character 
that  I  cannot  undertake  to  mention  them  all.  I  can  give 
only  some  of  the  most  glaring. 

It  is  evidently  very  human.  Its  style  is  the  same  all 
the  way  through.  It  is  heavy,  verbose.  One  of  its  sen- 
tences contains  over  340  words.  In  it  the  words  "that" 
and  "which"  are  repeated  twenty  times;  the  words  "I," 
"my"  and  "me,"  eleven  times ;  the  word  "Father,"  eight 
times;  "Gentiles,"  five  times;  the  expression,  "shall  come 
forth,"  four  times.  All  this  in  one  sentence.  And  so  on 
every  page  there  is  a  lack  of  the  simplicity  and  compre- 
hensiveness and  perspicuity  of  the  Bible.  It  abounds  in 
such  expressions  as  "and  it  came  to  pass,"   "behold," 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  177 

"thereof/'  "insomuch,"  etc.  The  author  seems  to  try  to 
imitate  the  Bible,  but  as  might  be  expected,  he  overdoes 
the  thing.  It  makes  a  number  of  bad  blunders,  showing 
both  its  human  and  its  modern  origin.  For  instance,  it 
says  that  the  Nephites  found  in  the  forests  "both  the  cow 
and  the  ox,  and  the  ass  and  the  horse,  and  the  goat  and  the 
wild  goat,  and  all  manner  of  wild  animals  that  were  for 
the  use  of  man."  In  another  place  it  is  stated  of  the 
Jaredites  that  they  had  "all  manner  of  cattle,  oxen  and 
cows,  and  of  sheep  and  of  swine,  and  of  goats,  and  also 
many  other  kinds  of  animals  wriich  were  useful  for  the 
food  of  man;  and  they  had  also  horses  and  asses,  and 
there  were  elephants  and  cureloms  and  cumons."  What 
the  latter  beasts  were  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  but 
scientific  men  are  unanimously  agreed  that  elephants  never 
existed  on  this  continent,  and  that  horses,  asses,  oxen  and 
swine  were  introduced  by  the  European  settlers  within 
the  last  three  hundred  years.  Had  they  existed  at  the 
time  alluded  to  by  the  Mormon  writer,  some  vestiges  of 
them  would  certainly  ere  this  have  been  discovered.  The 
idea  of  swine  being  spoken  of  by  the  descendants  of  He- 
brews as  "useful  for  the  food  of  man"  will  strike  readers 
of  the  Bible  with  astonishment. 

In  one  place  it  is  said  that  "all  those  who  were  true 
believers  in  Christ  took  upon  them  the  name  of  Christ  or 
Christians,  as  they  were  called,  because  of  their  belief  in 
Christ  who  should  come."  This  was  a  century  before 
the  coming  of  Christ.  The  question  is  asked  eighty  years 
before  Christ:  "Have  ye  been  spiritually  born  of  God?" 
Nearly  all  the  proper  names  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  are 
merely  combinations  of  Old  Testament  proper  names.  A 
few  are  from  Roman  history.  Some  of  these  ancient 
Americans  bear  Roman  names  several  centuries  too  early, 


i78  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

as  for  instance  the  name  Antipas  occurs  500  years  before 
the  days  of  the  Romans  by  that  name.  The  prophets  of 
the  book  also  display  remarkable  accuracy  in  using  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  although  they  purport 
to  have  lived  hundreds  of  years  before  the  Christian  era. 

Some  of  the  miracles  recorded  in  the  book  are  most 
remarkable.  Nephi  had  a  compass  given  him  by  the  Lord 
which  would  become  balky  and  refuse  to  work  whenever 
anything  was  done  to  Nephi,  "the  Lord's  pet."  Colored 
people  are  made  white  by  conversion.    Here  is  the  story : 

"And  it  came  to  pass  that  those  Lamanites  who  had 
united  with  the  Nephites  were  numbered  among  the  Ne- 
phites,  and  their  curse  was  taken  from  them,  and  their 
skin  became  white  like  unto  the  Nephites ;  and  their  young 
men  and  their  daughters  became  exceedingly  fair,  and 
they  were  numbered  among  the  Nephites,  and  were  called 
Nephites." 

Nebuchadnezzar's  burning  fiery  furnace,  the  Philippian 
jail  experiences,  the  darkness  and  awful  dread  of  Sinai, 
the  shining  face  of  Moses,  the  still,  small  voice  heard  by 
Elijah,  and  the  outpouring  of  the  spirit  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  are  all  combined  together,  and  all  of  them 
beaten,  in  the  marvelous  experiences  of  two  preachers,  the 
brothers  Nephi  and  Lehi,  sons  of  Helaman. 

Jared  built  not  one  ark  like  Noah  but  eight  barges,  "ac- 
cording to  the  instruction  of  the  Lord."  But  when  they 
were  finished  he  found  that  the  Lord  had  forgotten  two 
important  matters  with  reference  to  them — ventilation  and 
light.  The  brother  of  Jared  promptly  informs  the  Lord 
of  these  omissions.    He  says : 

"And  also  we  shall  perish,  for  in  them  we  cannot  breathe 
save  it  is  the  air  which  is  in  them  ;  therefore  we  shall  per- 
ish.   And  the  Lord  said  unto  the  brother  of  Jared,  behold, 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  179 

thou  shalt  make  a  hole  in  the  top  thereof,  and  also  in  the 
bottom  thereof;  and  when  thou  shalt  suffer  for  air,  thou 
shalt  unstop  the  hole  thereof,  and  receive  air.  And  if  so 
be  that  the  water  come  in  upon  thee,  behold  ye  shall  stop 
the  hole  thereof,  that  ye  may  not  perish  in  the  flood.  And 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  brother  of  Jared  did  so,  according 
as  the  Lord  had  commanded. 

"And  it  came  to  pass  that  they  were  many  times  buried 
in  the  depths  of  the  sea  because  of  the  mountain  waves 
which  broke  upon  them,  and  also  the  great  and  terrible 
tempests  which  were  caused  by  the  fierceness  of  the  wind." 
What  was  the  object  of  the  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the 
barges  and  how  they  got  air  to  breathe  while  the  waves 
were  breaking  over  them  and  burying  them  in  the  sea, 
so  that  they  would  have  to  stop  up  the  hole  in  the  top,  are 
not  made  clear. 

Again  the  brother  of  Jared  "cried  unto  the  Lord  saying, 
O  Lord,  behold  I  have  done  even  as  thou  hast  commanded 
me ;  and  I  have  prepared  the  vessels  for  my  people,  and 
behold  there  is  110  light  in  them.  Behold,  O  Lord,  wilt 
thou  suffer  that  we  shall  cross  the  great  water  in  dark- 
ness?" And  the  Lord,  apparently,  is  puzzled  to  know 
how  to  manage  this  matter,  and  so  he  asks  advice  of  the 
brother  of  Jared : 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  the  brother  of  Jared,  what  will 
ye  that  I  should  do  that  ye  may  have  light  in  your  vessels? 
For  behold,  ye  cannot  have  windows,  for  they  will  be 
dashed  in  pieces ;  neither  shall  ye  take  fire  with  you,  for 
ye  shall  not  go  by  the  light  of  fire ;  for  behold,  ye  shall 
be  as  a  whale  in  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  for  the  mountain 
waves  shall  dash  upon  you.  Nevertheless,  I  will  bring 
you  up  again  out  of  the  depths  of  the  sea ;  for  the  winds 
have  gone  forth  out  of  my  mouth,  and  also  the  rains  and 


180  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  floods  have  I  sent  forth.  And  behold,  I  prepare  you 
against  these  things;  for  howbeit,  ye  cannot  cross  this 
great  deep,  save  I  prepare  you  against  the  waves  of  the 
sea,  and  the  winds  which  have  gone  forth,  and  the  floods 
which  shall  come.  Therefore  what  will  ye  that  I  should 
prepare  for  you  that  ye  may  have  light  when  ye  are  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  depths  of  the  sea  ?" 

And  the  brother  of  Jared  was  quite  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency. He  was  evidently  a  man  of  remarkable  resources. 
He  went  up  into  a  very  high  mountain  "and  did  moulten 
out  of  a  rock  sixteen  small  stones,  and  they  were  white 
and  clear  even  as  transparent  glass/' 

And  those  sixteen  stones  he  presented  before  the  Lord ; 
and  after  an  earnest  prayer,  in  which  he  informs  the  Lord 
of  his  ability  to  do  anything  he  pleases,  he  says : 

"Therefore  touch  these  stones,  O  Lord,  with  thy  finger, 
and  prepare  them  that  they  may  shine  forth  in  the  dark- 
ness; and  they  shall  shine  forth  unto  us  in  the  vessels 
which  we  have  prepared,  that  we  may  have  light  while  we 
shall  cross  the  sea." 

And  the  Lord  did  so,  and  touched  the  stones  one  by  one 
with  his  finger,  and  they  became  luminous  with  light,  and 
were  placed  two  in  each  barge,  one  at  each  end.  Glass 
ioo  years  after  the  flood ! 

In  describing  what  took  place  at  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Christ  the  Book  of  Mormon  completely  outdoes  the  Bible : 

"Thick  darkness  upon  all  the  face  of  the  land,  inso- 
much that  the  inhabitants  thereof  could  feel  the  vapor 
of  darkness;  and  there  could  be  no  light,  neither  can- 
dles, neither  torches,  neither  could  there  be  a  fire  kin- 
dled with  their  fine  and  exceedingly  dry  wood."  And 
this  "did  last  for  the  space  of  three  days."  Meantime, 
"There  was  great  mourning  and  howling  and  weeping 


WILFORD    WOODRUFF. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  181 

among  all  the  people  continually.  .  .  .  And  thus 
were  the  howlings  of  the  people  great  and  terrible." 

In  the  midst  of  it  all  Jesus  appeared  upon  the  scene 
— herejn  America — and  spoke  in  "a  voice  heard  among 
all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  upon  all  the  face  of  the 
land,"  he  recounts  all  the  terrible  things  that  have  oc- 
curred, mentions  the  names  of  the  various  cities,  that 
have  been  so  suddenly  blotted  out  of  existence,  and  tells 
the  reason  why  this  terrible  visitation  has  been  permitted, 
because  of  their  sins.     The  narrative  goes  on  to  say: 

"And  it  came  to  pass  that  thus  did  the  three  days  pass 
away.  And  it  was  in  the  morning,  and  the  darkness  disap- 
pears from  off  the  face  of  the  land,  and  the  earth  did  cease 
to  tremble,  and  the  rocks  did  cease  to  rend,  and  the  dread- 
ful groanings  did  cease,  and  all  the  tumultuous  noises 
'did  pass  away,  and  the  earth  did  cleave  together  again 
that  it  stood,  (?)  and  the  mourning,  and  the  weeping, 
and  the  wailing  of  the  people  who  were  spared  alive  did 
cease;  and  their  mourning  was  turned  into  joy,  and  their 
lamentations  into  the  praise  and  thanksgiving  unto  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  their  Redeemer." 

Christ  then  told  the  whole  multitude  to  "Arise  and 
come  forth  unto  me  that  ye  may  thrust  your  hands 
into  my  side,  and  also  that  ye  may  feel  the  prints  of  the 
nails  in  my  hands  and  in  my  feet,  that  ye  may  know 
that  I  am  the  God  of  Israel,  and  the  God  of  the  whole 
earth,  and  have  been  slain  for  the  sins  of  the  world." 
Then  "the  multitude  went  forth  and  did  thrust  their 
hands  into  his  side,  and  did  feel  the  prints  of  the  nails 
in  his  hands  and  in  his  feet ;  and  this  they  did  do,  going 
forth  one  by  one,  until  they  had  all  gone  forth."  The 
multitude  in  another  place  is  said  to  have  numbered  2,300 
souls!  Allowing  a  quarter  of  a  minute  to  each  person, 
this  operation  would  have  taken  over  ten  hours! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— THE  BOOK  OF  MOR- 
MON—IMPROBABLE STORIES— BAD  ENG- 
LISH—"CLUMSIEST  HOAX  EVER  IN- 
VENTED." 

Here  are  some  other  very  improbable  stories  told  by 
the  Book  of  Mormon : 

A  Lamanite  general  is  scalped  after  the  most  approved 
Indian  fashion,  though  the  plucky  fellow  refused  to  re- 
tire, and  did  his  most  effective  fighting  afterwards, 
minus  a  scalp ! 

The  Lamanites  are  described  as  a  wild,  hardened, 
'ferocious  people,  delighting  in  robbery,  plunder  and 
murder,  a  "very  indolent  people,"  "many  of  whom  wor- 
ship idols  1"  And  yet,  though  wild  and  naked,  they 
possessed  dwelling  houses,  built  great  cities  in  which 
are  found  synagogues  and  sanctuaries  and  temples. 

After  the  Nephites  had  been  badly  beaten  by  the  Lam- 
anites, driven  out  of  their  strongholds  in  Central  Ameri- 
ca, their  principal  cities  taken  and  destroyed,  General 
Mormon  "wrote  an  epistle  unto  the  King  of  the  Laman- 
ites, and  desired  of  him  that  he  would  grant  unto  us 
that  we  might  gather  together  our  people  unto  the  land 
of  Cumorah,  and  there  we  could  give  them  battle.  And 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  King  of  the  Lamanites  did  grant 
unto  me  the  thing  which  I  desired.  And  it  came  to 
pass  that  we  did  march  forth  to  the  land  of  Cumorah, 
and  we  did  pitch  our  tents  round  about  the  hill  Cumorah ; 
and  it  was  in  a  land  of  many  waters,  rivers  and  foun- 
tains; and  here  we  had  hope  to  gain  advantage  over  the 
Lamanites." 

182 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  183 

Think  of  it !  A  defeated  general  writes  to  his  enemy 
and  makes  the  polite  request  that  he  will  transport  his 
army  of  several  hundred  thousand,  at  least  two  thousand 
miles  away  from  his  base  of  supplies,  into  a  sparsely 
settled  country,  where  provisions  were  necessarily  scarce, 
for  no  other  reason  than  to  allow  his  enemy  to  secure 
a  good  position  where  they  "had  hope  to  gain  advantage 
over  the  Lamanites" !  The  hill  Cumorah  is  a  small  hill 
in  Western  New  York.  In  reaching  it  General  Mor- 
mon had  climbed  over  hundreds  of  mountain  fastnesses, 
had  marched  by  scores  of  magnificent  canons  or  river 
gorges  and  other  of  nature's  hiding  places  or  of  Ther- 
mopylae passes — a  thousand  places  had  been  presented 
that  were  a  hundred  times  better  adapted  to  the  object 
he  had  in  view :  "to  gain  some  advantage  over  the  Lam- 
anites." But  the  reason  of  the  request  was  very  simple. 
In  that  battle  all  of  the  Nephites  were  to  be  killed. 
Mormon  was  to  bury  their  records,  which  were  after- 
wards to  be  revealed  to  Joseph  Smith.  These  he  claimed 
to  have  found  in  the  hill  Cumorah.  And  so,  despite  all 
geographical  difficulties  or  military  disadvantages,  the 
author  had  to  transport  his  armies  there  in  some  way, 
and  the  best  way,  of  course,  was  for  them  to  meet  there 
by  mutual  agreement 

And  so,  throughout  the  Book  of  Mormon,  there  is 
"a  multitude  of  unnatural,  foolish  and  impossible  stories," 
and  "a  love  of  the  marvelous  combined  with  a  some- 
what stoical  indifference  to  the  ridiculous."  A  large  part 
of  the  Book,  and  all  that  is  good  about  it,  is  stolen  directly 
from  the  Bible,  but  there  is  an  evident  purpose  to  beat 
the  Bible  in  relating  marvelous  stories. 

It  is  a  little  curious,  by  the  way,  that  in  this  copy- 
ing from  the  Bible  the  errors  in  translation  are  repro- 


184  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

duced.  Remember  that  these  expressions  are  put  into 
the  mouths  of  American  prophets,  apostles,  etc.,  who 
lived  centuries  before  the  Bible  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish at  all  and  1,200  years  before  King  James'  version, 
which  is  followed  pretty  closely  throughout.  This  is 
certainly  a  most  remarkable  coincidence.  True,  Sidney 
Rigdon  had  King  James'  version.  But  of  course  he  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Book  of  Mormon !  Joseph  Smith 
also  had  access  to  it,  though  I  doubt  if  he  owned  a  copy 
at  this  time,  if  ever.  But  all  he  had  to  do  with  the 
Book  of  Mormon  was  to  read  the  "Reformed  Egyptian" 
characters  by  means  of  his  Urim  and  Thummim,  and  it 
just  so  happened  that  in  dictating  the  translation  he  used 
the  same  language  as  King  James'  men!  This  fact  in- 
deed is  a  tribute  to  the  accuracy  of  King  James'  ver- 
sion, errors  and  all!  The  illustrations  on  this  point  are 
too  numerous  to  quote.  Take  only  one.  The  Book  of 
Mormon  says:  "Charity  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind, 
and  envieth  not,  and  is  not  puffed  up,  seeketh  not  her 
own,  is  not  easily  provoked."  This  is  almost  a  verbatim 
reproduction  of  1  Cor.  xiii.  4.  But  the  word  "easily" 
is  not  in  any  Greek  manuscript,  and  is  left  out  of  the 
Revised  Version.  How  did  the  Mormon  prophets  1,200 
years  before  King  James'  version,  come  to  make  the 
same  mistake? 

A  striking  instance  of  this  anachronism  is  the  plagiar- 
ism of  Hamlet's  well-known  speech,  "To  be,  or  not  to 
be."  Five  hundred  and  seventy  years  before  Christ,  Lehi, 
in  his  last  hours,  addressing  his  sons,  spoke  of  "the  cold 
and  silent  graw  from  whence  no  traveler  can  return" 
Two  thousand  two  hundred  years  later,  Shakespeare,  who 
had  never  read  Lehi's  writings,  spoke  of  "the  undiscov- 
ered country  from  whose  bourn  no  traveler  returns/' 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  185 

There  are  many  other  expressions  in  the  book  to  in- 
dicate its  modern  origin.  For  instance,  it  contains  a 
number  of  words  that  have  a  Greek  or  Latin  deriva- 
tion later  than  600  years  before  Christ,  and  others  en- 
tirely modern,  such  as :  "Faculties,"  "Popular,"  "Priest- 
craft," "State  of  dilemma,"  "Synagogue,"  "Bible," 
"Jews,"  "Gentiles,"  "Church,"  "Baptize,"  "Barges,"  "Im- 
mortal," and  many  others.  These  words  convey  ideas 
wholly  modern.  The  book  also  abounds  in  expressions 
borrowed  from  the  modern  camp  meetings,  which,  as  I 
stated  in  the  first  chapter,  were  being  held  in  Western 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  about  the  time  the 
book  was  published.  Here  are  some  of  them: 
"Encircled  about  eternally  in  the  arms  of  his  love." 
"They  are  encircled  about  with  the  matchless  bounty 
of  his  love." 

"They  were  encircled  about  with  everlasting  dark- 
ness and  destruction." 

"The  chains  of  hell  which  encircled  them  about  were 
loosed  and  their  souls  did  expand,  and  they  did  sing 
redeeming  love." 

"My  brethren,  if  ye  have  experienced  change  of  heart, 
and  if  ye  have  felt  to  sing  the  song  of  redeeming  love." 
"For  the  arms  of  mercy  are  extended  towards  them." 
"Lay  down  the  weapons  of  their  rebellion." 
"Behold,  your  days  of  probation  are  past;  ye  have 
procrastinated  the  day  of  your  salvation  until  it  is  ever- 
lastingly too  late." 

"By  the  power  of  their  words  many  were  brought  be- 
fore the  altar  of  God,  to  call  on  His  name,  and  confess 
their  sins." 

These  expressions  sound  much  more  like  the  Methodists 
of  the  19th  century  than  the  Jews  of  2,500,  or  even  1,500, 


186  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

years  ago.  There  are  many  other  modern  phrases  too 
numerous  to  quote. 

The  bad  English  in  the  book  is  very  noticeable.  Here 
are  some  examples  of  it :  Some  of  the  brethren  "did  rebel 
against  us ;  yea,  against  I,  Nephi,  and  Sam."  This  name 
Sam,  by  the  way,  sounds  very  modern.  Nephi  in  course 
of  time  began  to  build  a  ship,  and  "did  make  tools  of  the 
ore  which  I  did  molten  out  of  the  rock."  "And  now  there 
cannot  be  written  in  this  book  even  a  hundredth  part  of 
the  things  which  Jesus  did  truly  teach  unto  the  people. 
.  .  .  Behold  I  were  about  to  write  them  all  .  .  . 
but  the  Lord  forbid  it."  "And  when  Moroni  had  said 
these  words,  he  went  forth  among  the  people,  waving  the 
rent  of  his  garment  in  the  air,  that  all  might  see  the  writ- 
ing which  he  had  wrote  upon  the  rent!!!"  Besides  being 
very  bad  English,  this  sounds  indecent.  Certainly  it  is 
quite  ridiculous.  And  then  to  think  of  writing  upon  a 
rent!  Again,  "There  were  no  robbers  nor  murderers, 
neither  were  there  Lamanites,  or  any  manner  of  ites!!!" 
"Yea,  this  bringeth  about  the  restoration  of  those  things 
of  which  have  been  spoken  by  the  mouths  of  the  prophets." 
"I  say  unto  thee,  my  son,  that  the  plan  of  restoration  is 
requisite  (?)  with  the  justice  of  God."  "And  now  behold 
I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  had  ought  to  search  these  things 
diligently."  This  last  is  a  complete  betrayal  of  the  author. 
No  one  but  a  down  East  Yankee  like  Joseph  Smith  ever 
said  "had  ought." 

And  so  I  mi£-ht  use  many  other  illustrations  to  show 
the  modern  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  But  these 
will  suffice.  Through  it  all  it  is  easy  to  recognize  the  hand 
of  Sidney  Rigdon,  in  its  scriptural  quotations  and  its 
doctrinal  turn ;  and  the  hand  of  Joseph  Smith,  in  its 
modern  phraseology  and  its  ungrammatical  expressions. 

On  the  title  page  of  the  first  edition  of  the  Book  of 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  187 

Mormon  was  the  inscription,  "Joseph  Smith,  Author  and 
Proprietor."  This  told  the  truth,  but  only  part  of  the 
truth.  Solomon  Spaulding  and  Sidney  Rigdon  deserved 
to  share  with  him  the  honor. 

After  the  facts  which  I  have  given  above,  I  feel  sure 
that  the  reader  is  ready  to  join  with  me  in  declaring  that 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  with  all  of  its  involved  sentences, 
its  crude  notions,  its  grotesque  representations,  its  im- 
probable and  often  impossible  stories,  its  absurd  and 
ridiculous  statements,  its  childish  fancies,  its  geographical 
errors,  its  modern  phraseology  and  its  ungrammatical  ex- 
pressions is  a  fraud  of  the  deepest  dye.  Mr.  Lamb,  who 
has  made  the  most  thorough  study  of  it  that  has  yet  been 
made,  and  of  whose  excellent  work  upon  the  subject  I 
have  made  free  use,  says  in  the  conclusion  of  his  book: 
"My  whole  soul  is  moved,  profoundly  moved,  in  this  mat- 
ter. I  believe  with  all  my  heart,  I  am  forced  by  irresistible 
logic  to  believe,  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  a  fraud." 
In  another  place  he  speaks  of  it  as  "a  miserable  fraud,  a 
book  to  be  execrated  and  hated  by  all  good  men  who  love 
the  truth."  And  again  he  says  that  it  is  "full  of  blunders 
and  mistakes  and  contradictions,  and  human  imperfec- 
tions from  beginning  to  end."  And  again,  "The  angel 
that  dictated  this  book  has  been  over  and  over  again 
proven  to  be  ignorant,  self-conceited,  visionary ;  given  to 
exaggeration ;  forgetting  important  matters  of  record,  and 
making  numberless  mistakes." 

Dr.  W.  Wyl,  a  German,  who  spent  four  months  in 
Utah  studying  Mormonism  and  who  has  written  one  of 
the  most  interesting  books  I  have  read  upon  the  subject, 
calls  Mormonism  "a  most  ridiculous  and  patent  humbug," 
and  the  pretensions  of  Joseph  Smith  with  reference  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  "the  clumsiest  hoax  ever  invented." 

And  he  is  right. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— THE  DOCTRINE 
AND  COVENANTS  AND  PEARL  OF  GREAT 
PRICE— "BOOK  OF  ABRAHAM." 

The  Mormon  articles  of  faith  say  nothing  about  the 
Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants  or  about  the  Pearl  of 
Great  Price,  for  the  reason  that  the  articles  were  written 
by  Joseph  Smith  and  these  books  were  officially  adopted 
as  standard  authorities  by  the  Mormon  Church  since  the 
death  of  Smith.  But  they  are  regarded  as  much  sacred 
books  as  the  Bible  and  the  Book  of  Mormon.  They  are 
not,  however,  as  important  as  the  Book  of  Mormon  and 
I  shall  not  attempt  any  lengthy  examination  of  them  as 
with  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

The  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants  consists  of  two 
parts : 

1.  A  series  of  lectures  on  Faith,  in  which  faith  is 
described  as  "the  principal  (sic)  of  action  and  of  power 
in  all  intelligent  beings,  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth"; 
as  "the  principal  upon  which  all  eternity  has  acted  and 
will  act" ;  and  as  "the  principal  upon  which  his  creatures 
here  below  must  act  in  order  to  obtain  the  felicities  en' 
joyed  by  the  saints  in  the  eternal  world." 

2.  A  number  of  revelations  given  "to"  and  "through" 
Joseph  the  Seer,  at  various  times  and  places,  and  closing 
with  the  "revelation  on  the  eternity  of  the  marriage 
covenant,  including  plurality  of  wives." 

In  discussing  the  doctrines  of  the  Mormons,  I  have  had 
occasion  to  quote  frequently  from    the    Doctrine    and 

188 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  189 

Covenants.  I  also  gave  this  last  "revelation"  pretty  fully. 
And  so  I  need  not  dwell  at  any  length  now  upon  this  book. 

The  Pearl  of  Great  Price  is  a  curiosity.  It  is  a  con- 
glomerate medley  of  scraps.  The  following  is  the  Table 
of  Contents  given  in  the  book. 

Visions  of  Moses,  as  revealed  to  Joseph  the  Seer,  in 
June,  1830. 

Writings  of  Moses,  as  revealed  to  Joseph  the  Seer,  in 
December,  1830. 

The  Book  of  Abraham,  A  Translation  of  some  Ancient 
Records,  that  have  fallen  into  our  hands  from  the  Cata- 
combs of  Egypt,  the  writings  of  Abraham  while  he  was 
in  Egypt,  called  the  Book  of  Abraham,  written  by  his  own 
hand,  upon  Papyrus.  Translated  from  the  Papyrus  by 
Joseph  Smith. 

An  Extract  from  a  Translation  of  the  Bible,  being  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew,  commencing  with  the 
last  verse  of  the  twenty-third  chapter,  revealed  to  Joseph 
the  Seer,  in  1830. 

A  Key  to  the  Revelations  of  St.  John.  By  Joseph 
Smith. 

A  Revelation  and  Prophecy  on  War,  by  the  Prophet, 
Seer  and  Revelator,  Joseph  Smith,  Given  December  25th, 
1832. 

Extracts  from  the  History  of  Joseph  Smith,  contain- 
taining  an  account  of  the  first  Visions  and  Revelations 
which  he  received ;  also  of  his  discovering  and  obtaining 
the  plates  of  gold  which  contain  the  Record  of  Mormon, 
Its  translation.  His  Baptism,  and  Ordination  by  the 
Angel. 

From  the  Doctrine  and  Covenants  of  the  Church. — 
Commandment  to  the  Church  concerning  Baptism. — The 
Duties  of  the  Members  after  they  are  received  by  Bap- 


190  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

tism. — Method  of  administering  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper. — The  Duties  of  the  Elders,  Priests,  Teach- 
ers, Deacons,  and  Members  of  the  Church  of  Christ. — 
Extract  from  a  Revelation  given  July,  1830. — Rise  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. — Articles 
of  our  Faith. 

A  Revelation'  on  the  Eternity  of  the  Marriage  Cove- 
nant, Including  Plurality  of  Wives,  Given  through  Joseph 
the  Seer,  in  Nauvoo,  Hancock  County,  Illinois,  July  12th, 
1843. 

"The  Writings  of  Moses"  are  simply  a  paraphrase  of  the 
first  chapters  of  Genesis,  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
to  the  flood.  It  might  be  called  a  parody  upon  this  part 
of  the  Bible  if  it  were  not  so  much  of  a  travesty  upon  it. 

But  the  greatest  curiosity  of  any  is  the  "Book  of  Abra- 
ham." Its  origin  is  quite  interesting.  A  traveling  show- 
man had  some  mummies.  In  1835  ne  came  to  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  with  them.  But  let  Mr.  Smith  tell  the  story  for 
himself: 

"On  the  3d  of  July,  Michael  H.  Chandler  came  to  Kirt- 
land to  exhibit  some  Egyptian  mummies.  There  were 
four  human  figures,  together  with  some  two  or  more  rolls 
of  papyrus  covered  with  hieroglyphic  figures  and  devices. 
As  Mr.  Chandler  had  been  told  I  could  translate  them, 
he  brought  me  some  of  the  characters,  and  I  gave  him  the 
interpretation,  and  like  a  gentleman2  he  gave  me  the 
following  certificate: 

'Kirtland,  July  6,  1835. 

This  is  to  make  known  to  all  who  may  be  desirous  con- 
cerning the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Joseph  Smith,  Jun.,  in  de- 
ciphering the  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  characters  in 
my  possession,  which  I  have,  in  many  eminent  cities, 
showed  to  the  most  learned ;  and,  from  the  information 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  191 

that  I  could  ever  learn,  or  meet  with,  I  find  that  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Smith,  Jun.,  to  correspond  in  the  most  minute! 
matters.  Michael  H.  Chandler, 

Traveling  with,  and  proprietor  of,  Egyptian  mummies/  " 

How  Mr.  Chandler  knew  anything  about  the  Egyptian 
hieroglyphics  so  that  he  could  tell  when  they  were  cor- 
rectly translated  is  not  stated.  At  any  rate  the  Saints 
bought  the  mummies  for  Smith,  and  soon  afterward  he 
declared  that  "much  to  our  joy  we  found  that  one  of  these 
rolls  contained  the  writings  of  Abraham,  another  the 
writings  of  Joseph."  "The  writings  of  Joseph"  are  not 
published.  The  Book  of  Abraham  occupies  13  pages  in 
the  Pearl  of  Great  Price.  I  give  one  or  two  quotations 
from  it  to  show  its  character: 

"Thus  I,  Abraham,  talked  with  the  Lord,  face  to  face 
as  one  man  talketh  with  another;  and  He  told  me  of  the 
works  which  his  hand  had  made;  and  he  said  unto  me, 
My  son,  my  son  (and  his  hand  was  stretched  out),  be- 
hold, I  will  show  you  all  these.  And  He  put  his  hand 
upon  mine  eyes  and  I  saw  those  things  which  His  hand 
had  made,  which  were  many ;  and  He  said  unto  me,  This 
is  Shinehah,  which  is  the  Sun.  And  He  said  unto  me, 
Kokob,  which  is  Star.  And  he  said  unto  me,  Olea,  which 
is  the  Moon.  And  he  said  unto  me,  Kokaubeam,  which 
signifies  stars,  or  all  the  great  lights  which  were  in  the 
firmament  of  heaven." 

Here  is  the  way  the  Book  of  Abraham  corrects  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis : 

"And  they  (the  gods)  said  let  there  be  light  and  there 
was  light,  and  they  (the  Gods)  comprehended  the  light, 
for  it  was  bright;  and  they  divided  the  light,  or  caused 
it  to  be  divided  from  the  darkness ;  and  the  Gods  called 
the  light  day,  and  the  darkness  they  called  night.     And 


i92  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  Gods  also  said,  Let  there  be  an  expanse  in  the  midst 
of  the  waters,  and  it  shall  divide  the  waters  from  the 
waters.  And  the  Gods  ordered  the  expanse,  so  that  it 
divided  the  waters  which  were  under  the  expanse  from 
the  waters  which  were  above  the  expanse ;  and  it  was  so, 
even  as  they  ordered.  And  the  Gods  called  the  expanse 
Heaven.  And  the  Gods  ordered,  saying,  Let  the  waters 
under  the  heaven  be  gathered  together  unto  one  place, 
and  let  the  earth  come  up  dry;  and  it  was  so,  as  they 
ordered ;  and  the  Gods  pronounced  the  earth  dry,  and  the 
gathering  together  of  the  waters,  pronounced  they,  great 
waters ;  and  the  Gods  saw  that  they  were  obeyed.  And 
the  Gods  said,  Let  us  prepare  the  earth  to  bring  forth 
grass ;  the  herb  yielding  seed ;  the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit, 
after  his  kind,  whose  seed  in  itself  yieldeth  its  own  likeness 
upon  the  earth ;  and  it  was  so,  even  as  they  ordered.  And 
the  Gods  organized  the  earth  to  bring  forth  grass  from 
its  own  seed,  yielding  seed  after  its  kind.  And  the  Gods 
organized  the  lights  in  the  expanse  of  the  heaven,  and 
caused  them  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night ;  and  organ- 
ized them  to  be  for  signs  and  for  seasons  and  for  days  and 
for  years ;  and  organized  them  to  be  for  lights  in  the  ex- 
panse of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth ;  and  it 
was  so.  And  the  Gods  organized  the  two  great  lights, 
the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to 
rule  the  night ;  with  the  lesser  light  they  set  the  stars  also. 
And  the  Gods  watched  those  things  which  they  had  or- 
dered until  they  obeyed." 

Let  us  compare  the  interpretation  of  the  pictures  on 
the  papyrus  of  the  Book  of  Abraham  made  by  Joseph 
Smith  with  the  interpretation  made  by  a  French  scholar, 
Mr.  Deveria,  to  whom  the  pictures  were  shown.  Take 
The  Resurrection  of  Osiris. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 


193 


JOSEPH    SMITH. 

Fig.  I.  The  Angel  of 
the  Lord. 

2.  Abraham  fastened  up 
on  an  altar. 

3.  The  idolatrous  priest 
of  Elkenah  attempting  to 
offer  up  Abraham  as  a  sac- 
rifice. 

4.  The  altar  for  sacrifice 
by  the  idolatrous  priest 
standing  before  the  gods  of 
Elkenah,  Libnah,  Mah- 
mackrah,  Korash  and  Pha- 
raoh. 

5.  The  idolatrous  god  of 
Elkenah. 

6.  The  idolatrous  god  of 
Libnah. 

7.  The  idolatrous  god  of 
Korash. 

9.  The  idolatrous  god  of 
Pharaoh. 

10.  Abraham  in  Egypt. 

11.  Design  to  represent 
the  pillars  of  heaven  as  un- 
derstood by  the  Egyptians. 

12.  Raukeegang,  signi- 
fying expanse,  or  the  firm- 
ament over  our  heads ;  but 
in  this  case,  in  relation  to 
this  subject,  the  Egyptians 
meant  it  to  signify  Shau- 


MR.  DEVERIA. 

Fig.  I.  The  soul  of  Osir- 
is under  the  form  of  a 
hawk. 

2.  Osiris  coming  to  life 
on  his  funeral  couch,  which 
is  in  the  shape  of  a  lion. 

3.  The  god  Anubis  ef- 
fecting the  resurrection  of 
Osiris. 

4.  The  funeral-bed  of 
Osiris,  under  which  are 
placed  the  four  sepulchral 
vessels  called  canopes,  each 
of  them  surmounted  by  the 
head  of  the  four  genii. 

5.  Kebh  son-iw,  with  a 
hawk's  head. 

6.  Tiomautew,  with  a 
jackal's  head. 

7.  Hapi,  with  a  dog's 
head. 

8.  Amset,  with  a  human 
head. 

9.  The  sacred  crocodile, 
symbolic  of  the  God  Sebet. 

10.  Altar  laden  with  of- 
ferings. 

11.  An  ornament  pecul- 
iar to  Egyptian  art. 

12.  Customary  repre- 
sentation of  ground  in 
Egyptian  paintings.     (The 


194 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 


word     Shauman 
Egyptian). 


is     not 


man,  to  be  high,  or  the 
heavens,  answering  to  the 
Hebrew  Shaumahyeem. 

Here  is  another  picture  described  by  Mr.  Deveria  as 
the  "Initial  painting  of  a  funerary  Manuscript  of  the 
Lower  Epoch  which  cannot  be  anterior  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Roman  dominion :" 

FUNERARY  MANUSCRIPT. 


JOSEPH    SMITH. 

Fig.  i.  Abraham  sitting 
upon  Pharaoh's  throne,  BY 
THE  POLITENESS  OF 
THE  KING,  with  a  crown 
upon  his  head,  representing 
the  Priesthood,  as  emblem- 
atical of  THE  GRAND 
PRESIDENCY  IN 
HEAVEN;  with  the  scep- 
tre of  justice  and  judg- 
ment in  his  hand. 

2.  King  Pharaoh,  whose 
name  is  given  in  the  char- 
acters above  his  head. 

3.  Signifies  Abraham  in 
Egypt;  referring  to  Abra- 
ham as  given  in  the  first 
facsimile. 

4-  PRINCE  OF  PHA- 
RAOH, King  of  Egypt,  as 
written  above  the  hand. 

5.  Shulem,  one  of  the 
king's  principal  waiters,  as 
represented  by  the  charac- 
ters above  his  hand. 


MR.    DEVERIA. 

Fig.  1.  Osiris  on  his  seat. 

2.  The  goddess  Isis.  The 
star  she  carries  in  her 
right  hand  is  the  sign  of 
life. 

3.  Altar  with  the  offer- 
ing of  the  deceased,  sur- 
rounded with  lotus  flow- 
ers, signifying  the  offering 
of  the  defunct. 

4.  The  goddess  Ma. 

5.  The  deceased  led  by 
Ma  into  the  presence  of 
Osiris.  His  name  is  Horus, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  pray- 
er which  is  at  the  bottom  of 
the  picture,  and  which  is 
addressed  to  the  divinities 
of  the  four  cardinal  points. 

6.  An  unknown  divinity, 
probably  Anubis;  but  his 
head,  which  ought  to  be 
that  of  a  jackal,  has  been 
changed. 


ABRAHAM  AND  PHARAOH. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  195 

6.  Olimlah,  a  slave  be- 
longing to  the  prince. 

Abraham  is  reasoning 
upon  the  principles  of  As- 
tronomy, in  the  King's 
Court. 

And  so  with  other  interpretations.  Those  given  by 
Mr.  Smith  are  utterly  different  from  those  given  by  Mr. 
Deveria,  and  they  serve  to  show  that,  as  Dr.  Wyl  says, 
"The  book  of  Abraham  is  not  only  a  fraud,  but  an  un- 
speakably silly  and  clumsy  one,  too." 

Other  parts  of  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price  are  all  on  a 
par  with  the  Book  of  Abraham,  and  all  go  to  prove  that 
Mormonism  is  a  system  of  "the  most  impudent  lies  ever 
concocted  by  low,  ignorant  impostors  and  cheats." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— NEW  REVELA- 
TIONS —  BLOOD  ATONEMENT  —  ARGU- 
MENTS FOR  IT. 

The  9th  article  of  faith  in  the  Mormon  creed  reads : 

"We  believe  all  that  God  has  revealed,  all  that  he  does 
now  reveal,  and  we  believe  that  He  will  yet  reveal  many 
great  and  important  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

This  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  articles  in  the  Mor- 
mon creed.  It  teaches  that  revelation  did  not  close  with 
the  canon  of  Scripture,  but  that  in  these  latter  days  God 
again  reveals  "many  great  and  important  things."  To 
whom  does  He  reveal  them?  Why,  only  to  the  Mor- 
mons, of  course,  and  pre-eminently  to  the  president  of 
the  Mormon  Church,  who  alone  is  authorized  to  promul- 
gate revelations. 

As  I  stood  in  front  of  the  office  of  the  president  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  a  gentleman  who  was  with  me  remarked: 
"Now  you  see  the  only  place  in  the  world  where  there 
is  direct  telephonic  communication  with  heaven."  The 
remark,  strange,  almost  blasphemous,  as  it  sounded,  did 
not  exaggerate  the  Mormon  belief.  And  the  president 
can  get  a  message  at  any  time  on  any  subject  he  chooses. 
And,  strange  to  say,  it  is  always  just  the  kind  of  message 
he  wanted.  Take,  for  instance,  the  'revelation  on  the 
subject  of  polygamy  given  to  Joseph  Smith,  and  then 
the  revelation  to  Wilford  Woodruff,  telling  him  its  prac- 

196 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  197 

tice  might  be  suspended.     But  this  revelation  was  not 
given  until  many  of  the  apostles  and  bishops  and  elders 
had  been  put  in  the  penitentiary  for  practicing  polygamy, 
and  not  until  under  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  the  church 
property  had  been  confiscated  by  the  government.    These 
things  seemed  to  bring  "the  Lord"  to  his  senses.     The 
truth  is  that  the  president  and  the  Lord  frequently  get 
a  good  deal  mixed  up,  and  it  is  often  a  little  difficult  to 
tell  which  is  which.    In  the  case  of  Brigham  Young  they 
finally  got  to  be  identical.     The  Book  of  Mormon,  the 
Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  and  the  Pearl  of  Great 
Price  are  all  put  on  an  equality  with  the  Bible.    But  these 
"revelations,"  being  the  latest  and  freshest,  may  super- 
sede all  of  these  books.    And  as  these  "revelations"  are 
liable  to  be  given  at  any  time  and  may,  as  in  the  case  of 
polygamy,    be    radically    different    from    their    previous 
teachings,  the  Mormons  never  really  know  what  is  their 
belief  until  they  have  heard  from  headquarters  and  got 
the  latest  "revelations." 

This  claim  makes  them  utterly  subservient  to  the 
priesthood,  and  ultimately  to  the  high  priest,  the  presi- 
dent. It  gives  him  the  keys  to  Heaven.  It  puts  him  on 
an  equality  with  the  pope,  and,  if  anything,  above  the 
pope,  as  he  claims  rather  more  direct  communication  with 
Heaven  than  even  the  pope  does.  It  opens  the  way  for 
any  sort  of  revelation  the  president  may  claim  to  have 
received,  and  requires  implicit  obedience  to  it,  whatever 
it  may  be.  Take  the  revelation  on  polygamy,  for  instance. 
There  was  the  greatest  objection  to  it  at  first,  especially 
on  the  part  of  the  women.  But  it  was  a  "revelation,"  and 
so  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  obey  it,  or  apostatize  from 
the  Mormon  faith,  as  many  did.  This  claim  makes  of 
Mormonism  an  absolute  monarchy,  a  complete  despot- 


198  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ism.  It  renders  the  priesthood  infallible,  and  requires  a 
blind,  unreasoning,  unquestioning  obedience  to  it.  Grant- 
ed this  claim  and  ah  else  is  possible.  Accept  it  and  you 
put  your  head  in  a  halter  and  will  be  led  whithersoever  the 
whim  of  the  president  may  dictate.  It  is  the  most  dan- 
gerous menace  to  numan  liberty  ever  invented  by  the 
devil. 

It  is,  too,  the  refuge  of  fools  and  fanatics  of  every 
description  as  an  apology  for  their  misdeeds.  It  was  the 
plea  of  Freeman,  who  killed  his  daughter;  of  Guiteau, 
who  killed  Garfield,  and  of  Joseph  Smith  and  Brigham 
Young  in  their  numerous  debaucheries  and  crimes.  It 
takes  the  blame  off  their  shoulders  for  all  their  misdeeds 
and  saddles  it  on  "the  Lord." 

And  besides,  this  claim  of  a  new  revelation  flies  direct- 
ly in  the  face  of  the  concluding  words  in  the  last  chapter 
of  the  Bible,  where  it  is  said :  "For  I  testify  unto  every 
man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this 
book,  If  any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things.  God  shall 
add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book; 
and  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words  of  the 
book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out 
of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  and  from  the 
things  which  are  written  in  this  book." 

The  tenth  article  of  faith  says : 

"We  believe  in  the  literal  gathering  of  Israel  and  in  the 
restoration  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  that  Zion  will  be  built  on 
this  continent,  that  Christ  will  reign  personally  on  the 
earth,  and  that  the  earth  will  be  renewed  and  receive  its 
paradisiacal  glory." 

There  is  nothing  specially  objectionable  about  this  arti- 
cle. Many  Christians  believe  the  same  thing,  though 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  them  on  the  sub- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  199 

ject.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  if  Zion  is  built  on 
this  continent  it  will  be  at  Salt  Lake  City.  Certainly  that 
city  corresponds  now  much  more  to  Sodom  than  it  does 
to  Zion. 

DANITE  BAND BLOOD  ATONEMENT. 

The  nth  article  of  faith  in  the  Mormon  creed  says: 

"We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshipping  Almighty  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  our  conscience,  and  allow  all 
men  the  same  privilege,  let  them  worship  how,  where  or 
what  they  may/' 

This  certainly  sounds  very  pretty.  But  let  us  see  what 
is  the  interpretation  the  Mormons  put  on  it  in  actual 
practice.  At  one  time  they  had  a  band  known  as  "whit- 
tiers."  Whenever  anyone  would  do  anything  they  did  not 
like,  these  whittlers  would  call  upon  him  and,  without 
saying  a  word,  stand  in  front  of  him  and  begin  to  whittle 
pieces  of  pine.  Everywhere  he  would  go,  they  would 
follow  him,  still  whittling,  piling  up  their  shavings  around 
him  and  sometimes  letting  their  knives  slip  and  almost 
cutting  him  in  the  face.  This  would  become  intolerable 
after  a  while,  and  the  poor  fellow  would  either  yield  to 
their  wishes  or  leave. 

While  they  were  in  Far  West,  Mo.,  the  famous,  or 
rather  infamous,  Danite  Band  was  organized  by  Sidney 
Rigdon  and  Dr.  Sampson  Avard  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing out  from  Missouri  all  apostates  or  dissenters  from  the 
Mormon  faith.  It  was  variously  called  the  "Daughters  of 
Zion,"  "Big  Fan,"  "Brothers  of  Gideon,"  and  finally 
"Danites."  The  following  is  given  as  the  origin  of  the 
name  by  Elder  John  Hyde : 

When  the  citizens  of  Carroll  and  Davies  counties,  Mis- 
souri, began  to  threaten  the  Mormons  with  expulsion  in 

1838,  a  "death  society"  was  organized  under  the  direc- 


20o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

tion  of  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  with  the  sanction  of  Smith. 
Its  first  captain  was  Captain  "Fearnaught,"  alias  David 
Patten,  an  apostle.  Its  object  was  the  punishment  of  the 
obnoxious.  Some  time  elapsed  before  finding  a  suitable 
name.  They  desired  one  that  should  seem  to  combine 
spiritual  authority  with  a  suitable  sound.  Micah  iv.  13 
furnished  the  first  name :  "Arise  and  thresh,  O  daughter 
of  Zion;  for  I  will  make  thy  horn  iron  and  thy  hoofs 
brass;  and  thou  shalt  beat  in  pieces  many  people;  and  I 
will  consecrate  their  gain  unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth. "  This  furnished  them  with  a  pretext;  it  accu- 
rately described  their  intentions,  and  they  called  them- 
selves the  "Daughters  of  Zion."  Some  ridicule  was  made 
at  these  bearded  and  bloody  "Daughters/'  and  the  name 
did  not  sit  easily.  "Destroying  Angels"  came  next;  the 
"Big  fan  of  the  thresher  that  should  thoroughly  purge 
the  floor"  was  tried  and  dropped.  Genesis  xlix.  iy  fur- 
nished the  name  that  they  finally  assumed.  The  verse  is 
quite  significant:  "Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way, 
an  adder  in  the  path  that  biteth  the  horse's  heels  so  that 
his  rider  shall  fall  'backward.'  "  The  "Sons  of  Dan"  was 
the  style  they  adopted,  and  many  have  been  the  times 
that  they  have  been  adders  in  the  path,  and  many  a  man 
has  fallen  backward  and  has  been  seen  no  more. 
Addressing  the  Danite  companies,  Dr.  Avard  said  : 
"My  brethren,  as  you  have  been  chosen  to  be  our  lead- 
ing men,  our  captains  to  rule  over  this  last  kingdom  of 
Jesus  Christ,  who  have  been  organized  after  the  ancient 
order,  I  have  called  upon  you  here  today  to  teach  you 
and  instruct  you  in  the  things  that  pertain  to  your  duty, 
and  to  show  you  what  your  privileges  are,  and  what  they 
soon  will  be.  Know  ye  not,  brethren,  that  it  soon  will  be 
your  privilege  to  take  your  respective  companies  and  go 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  201 

out  on  a  scout  on  the  borders  of  the  settlements  and  take 
to  yourself  spoils  of  the  ungodly  Gentiles  ?  For  it  is  writ- 
ten, The  riches  of  the  Gentiles  shall  be  consecrated  to  my 
people,  the  house  of  Israel';  and  thus  waste  away  the 
Gentiles  by  robbing  and  plundering  them  of  their  prop- 
erty; and  in  this  way  we  build  up  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  roll  forth  the  little  stone  that  Daniel  saw  cut  out  of 
the  mountain  without  hands  until  it  shall  fill  the  whole 
earth.  For  this  is  the  very  way  that  God  destines  to  build 
up  His  kingdom  in  the  last  days.  If  any  of  us  shall  be 
recognized,  who  can  harm  us?  For  we  will  stand  by 
each  other  and  defend  one  another  in  all  things.  If  our 
enemies  swear  against  us,  we  can  swear  also.  [The  cap- 
tains were  confounded  at  this,  but  Avard  continued.] 
Why  do  you  startle  at  this,  brethren?  As  'the  Lord' 
liveth,  I  would  swear  to  a  lie  to  clear  any  of  you ;  and  if 
this  would  not  do,  I  would  put  them  or  him  under  the 
sand  as  Moses  did  the  Egyptian,  and  in  this  way  we  will 
consecrate  much  unto  'the  Lord,'  and  build  up  His  king- 
dom; and  who  can  stand  against  us?  And  if  any  of  us 
transgress  we  will  deal  with  him  amongst  ourselves.  And 
if  any  of  this  Danite  Society  reveals  any  of  these  things, 
I  will  put  him  where  the  dogs  cannot  bite  him." 

The  oath  taken  by  the  Danites  in  Missouri  was  simply : 
"In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  I  do 
solemnly  obligate  myself  ever  to  conceal  and  never  to 
reveal  the  secret  purposes  of  this  society,  called  the 
Daughter  of  Zion.  Should  I  ever  do  the  same,  I  hoid  my 
life  as  the  forfeiture." 

This  oath  was  afterward  altered,  in  Nauvoo,  to  read: 

'In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  I  do 

solemnly  obligate  myself  ever  to  regard  the  prophet  and 

first  presidency  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter 


202  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Day  Saints  as  the  supreme  head  of  the  church  on  earth, 
and  to  obey  them  in  all  things  the  same  as  the  supreme 
God;  that  I  will  stand  by  my  brethren  in  danger  or  diffi- 
culty, and  will  uphold  the  presidency,  right  or  wrong, 
and  that  I  will  ever  conceal  and  never  reveal  the  secret 
purposes  of  this  society,  called  the  Daughter  of  Zion. 
Should  I  ever  do  the  same,  I  hold  my  life  as  a  forfeiture, 
in  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil." 

From  the  "elite"  among  the  Danites,  as  George  Q. 
Cannon  called  them,  twelve  were  selected,  called  Destruc- 
tives, or  Destroying  Angels,  and  sometimes  Flying  An- 
gels. Their  duty  was  to  act  as  spies,  and  to  report  to  the 
first  presidency.    Their  oath  was  as  follows : 

"In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  I  do 
covenant  and  agree  to  support  the  first  presidency  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,  in  all  things, 
right  or  wrong;  I  will  faithfully  guard  them  and  report 
to  them  the  acts  of  all  men,  as  far  as  in  my  power  lies ;  I 
will  assist  in  executing  all  the  decrees  of  the  first  presi- 
dent, patriarch  or  president  of  the  twelve ;  and  that  I  will 
cause  all  who  speak  evil  of  the  presidency,  or  heads  of  the 
church,  to  die  the  death  of  dissenters  or  apostates,  unless 
they  speedily  confess  and  repent,  for  pestilence,  persecu- 
tion and  death  shall  follow  the  enemies  of  Zion.  I  will  be 
a  swift  herald  of  salvation  and  messenger  of  peace  to  the 
saints,  and  I  will  never  make  known  the  secret  purposes 
of  this  society,  called  the  Destroying  Angel,  my  life 
being  the  forfeiture  in  a  fire  of  burning  tar  and  brim- 
stone.   So  help  me  God,  and  keep  me  steadfast." 

Referring  to  this  Danite  band,  Dr.  Wyl  says  that 
"Mormonism  is  nothing  but  the  Religious  Mafia  of  the 
United  States."  To  tell  all  the  dastardly  deeds  of  this 
Danite  band  would  fill  a  volume.    The  most  notorious  of 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  203 

all  was  the  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre,  of  which  I  have 
already  told. 

But  even  more  horrible  than  the  Danite  band  was  the 
theory  of  Blood  Atonement  preached  and  practiced  by 
the  Mormons  at  one  time.  Its  author  was  no  less  a  person 
than  Brigham  Young,  together  with  his  right  hand  man, 
Jedediah  M.  Grant.  An  ex-Mormon  elder  by  the  name  of 
Smith  and  some  friends  attempted  to  address  the  Mor- 
mons in  the  public  street  one  Sunday  just  as  Brigham 
was  going  home  from  the  Tabernacle.  On  the  following 
Sunday,  March  27,  1853,  Brigham  was  running  over  with 
"the  Spirit,"  and  revealed  himself  on  the  subject  of  apos- 
tacy : 

"When  I  went  from  meeting  last  Sabbath,  my  ears 
were  saluted  with  an  apostate  crying  in  the  streets  here. 
I  want  to  know  if  anyone  of  you  who  has  got  the  spirit  of 
Mormonism  in  you,  the  spirit  that  Joseph  and  Hyrum 
had,  or  that  we  have  here,  would  say,  'Let  us  hear  both 
sides  of  the  question.  Let  us  listen  and  prove  all  things/ 
What  do  you  want  to  prove  ?  Do  you  want  to  prove  that 
an  old  apostate,  who  has  been  cut  off  from  the  Church 
thirteen  times  for  lying,  is  anything  worthy  of  notice?  I 
heard  that  a  certain  picture-maker  in  this  city,  when  the 
boys  would  have  moved  away  the  wagon  in  which  this 
apostate  was  standing,  became  violent  with  them,  saying, 
'Let  this  man  alone ;  these  are  Saints  that  you  are  perse- 
cuting/    [Sneeringly.] 

"We  want  such  men  to  go  to  California,  or  anywhere 
they  choose.  I  say  to  those  persons,  'You  must  not  court 
persecution  here,  lest  you  get  so  much  of  it  you  will  not 
know  what  to  do  with  it.  Do  not  court  persecution/  We 
have  known  Gladden  Bishop  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
and  know  him  to  be  a  poor  dirty  curse.     Here  is  sister 


204-  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Vilate  Kimball,  brother  Heber's  wife,  has  borne  more 
from  that  man  than  any  other  woman  on  earth  could  bear ; 
but  she  won't  bear  it  again.  I  say  again,  you  Gladdenites, 
do  not  court  persecution,  or  you  will  get  more  than  you 
want,  and  it  will  come  quicker  than  you  want  it. 

"I  say  to  you,  bishops,  do  not  allow  them  to  preach  in 
your  wards.  Who  broke  the  road  to  these  valleys  ?  Did 
this  little  nasty  Smith  and  his  wife?  No.  They  stayed 
in  St.  Louis,  while  we  did  it,  peddling  ribbons,  and  kiss- 
ing the  Gentiles.  I  know  what  they  have  done  here — > 
they  have  asked  exorbitant  prices  for  their  nasty  stinking 
ribbons.  [Voices,  "That's  true."]  We  broke  the  roads 
to  this  country. 

"Now,  you  Gladdenites,  keep  your  tongues  still,  lest 
sudden  destruction  come  upon  you.  I  say  rather  than 
that  the  apostates  should  flourish  here,  /  will  unsheath  my 
bowie  knife,  and  conquer  or  die.  [Great  commotion  in 
the  congregation,  and  a  simultaneous  burst  of  feeling, 
assenting  to  the  declaration.]  Now,  you  nasty  apostates, 
clear  out,  or  'judgment  will  be  laid  to  the  line,  and  right- 
eousness to  the  plummet/  [Voices  generally,  'Go  it,  go 
it!']  If  you  say  it  is  all  right,  raise  your  hands.  [All 
hands  up.]  Let  us  call  upon  the  Lord  to  assist  us  in  this 
and  every  other  good  zvork." 

In  a  sermon  in  the  Tabernacle,  March  12,  1854,  Grant 
said : 

"Then  what  ought  this  meek  people  who  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  God  do  unto  them  ?  'Why,'  says  one,  'they 
ought  to  pray  to  the  Lord  to  kill  them.'  I  want  to  know 
if  you  wish  the  Lord  to  come  down  and  do  all  your  dirty 
work?  Many  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  will  pray,  and 
petition,  and  supplicate  the  Lord  to  do  a  thousand  things 
they  themselves  would  be  ashamed  to  do." 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  205 

And  again : 

"When  a  man  prays  for  a  thing,  he  ought  to  be  willing 
to  perform  it  himself.  But  if  the  Latter  Day  Saints  should 
put  to  death  the  covenant-breakers,  it  would  try  the  faith 
of  the  'very  meek,  just  and  pious'  ones  among  them,  and 
it  would  cause  a  great  deal  of  whining  in  Israel. 

"And  then  there  was  another  odd  commandment.  The 
Lord  God  commanded  them  not  to  pity  the  person  whom 
they  killed,  but  to  execute  the  law  of  God  upon  persons 
worthy  of  death.  This  should  be  done  by  the  entire  con- 
gregation, showing  no  pity.  I  have  thought  there  would 
have  to  be  quite  a  revolution  among  the  Mormons  before 
such  a  commandment  could  be  obeyed  completely  by  them. 
The  Mormons  have  a  great  deal  of  sympathy.  For  in- 
stance, if  they  can  get  a  man  before  the  tribunal  adminis- 
tering the  law  of  the  land,  and  succeed  in  getting  a  rope 
around  his  neck,  and  have  him  hung  up  like  a  dead  dog, 
it  is  all  right.  But  if  the  Church  and  kingdom  of  God 
should  step  forth  and  executei  the  law  of  God,  oh,  what  a 
burst  of  Mormon  sympathy  it  would  cause!  /  wish  we 
were  in  a  situation  favorable  to  our  doing  that  which  is 
justifiable  before  God,  without  any  contaminating  in- 
fluence of  Gentile  amalgamation,  laws  and  tradition,  that 
the  people  of  God  might  lay  the  axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree, 
and  every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  might  be 
hewn  down. 

"What !  do  you  believe  that  people  would  do  right,  and 
keep  the  law  of  God,  by  actually  putting  to  death  the  trans- 
gressors? Putting  to  death  the  transgressors  would  ex- 
hibit the  law  of  God,  no  matter  by  whom  it  was  done. 
That  is  my  opinion." 

But  Brigham  Young  went  still  farther.  In  a  sermon 
delivered  in  the  Bowery,  Salt  Lake  City,  Sept.  21,  1856, 
he  said : 


206  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"The  time  is  coming  when  justice  will  be  laid  to  the  line 
and  righteousness  to  the  plummet ;  when  we  shall  take  the 
old  broadsword  and  ask,  'Are  you  for  God?'  and  if  you 
are  not  heartily  on  the  Lord's  side,  you  will  be  hewn 
down ! 

1  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"There  are  sins  that  men  commit  for  which  they  cannot 
receive  forgiveness  in  this  world  or  in  that  which  is  to 
come ;  and  if  they  had  their  eyes  opened  to  see  their  true 
condition  they  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  have  their 
blood  spilt  upon  the  ground,  that  the  smoke  thereof  might 
ascend  to  Heaven  as  an  offering  for  their  sins,  and  the 
smoking  incense  would  atone  for  their  sins;  whereas,  if 
such  is  not  the  case,  they  will  stick  to  them  and  remain 
with  them  in  the  spirit  world. 

"I  know,  when  you  hear  my  brethren  telling  about  cut- 
ting people  off  from  the  earth,  that  you  consider  it  is 
strong  doctrine;  but  it  is  to  save  them,  not  to  destroy 
them.     *     *     * 

I  do  know  that  there  are  sins  committed  of  such  a 
nature  that,  if  the  people  did  understand  the  doctrine  of 
salvation,  they  would  tremble  because  of  their  situation. 
And,  furthermore,  I  know  that  there  are  transgressors 
who,  if  they  knew  themselves,  and  the  only  condition  upon 
which  they  can  obtain  forgiveness,  would  beg  of  their 
brethren  to  shed  their  blood,  that  the  smoke  thereof  might 
ascend  to  God  as  an  offering  to  appease  the  wrath  that  is 
kindled  against  them,  and  that  the  law  might  have  its 
course.  I  will  say,  further,  I  have  had  men  come  to  me 
and  offer  their  lives  to  atone  for  their  sins. 

"It  is  true  that  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  was  shed 
for  sins  through  the  fall  and  those  committed  by  men,  yet 
men  can  commit  sins  which  it  can  never  remit.    As  it  was 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  207 

in  ancient  days,  so  it  is  in  our  day ;  and  though  the  princi- 
ples are  taught  publicly  from  this  stand,  still  the  people 
do  not  understand  them ;  yet  the  law  is  precisely  the  same. 
There  are  sins  that  can  be  atoned  for  by  an  offering  upon 
an  altar,  as  in  ancient  days;  and  there  are  sins  that  the 
blood  of  a  lamb,  of  a  calf,  or  of  turtle  doves  cannot  remit, 
but  they  must  be  atoned  for  by  the  blood  of  the  man." 

And  in  a  discourse  delivered  in  the  Tabernacle,  Feb.  8, 
1857,  from  the  text,  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself/'  he 
said  : 

"When  will  we  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves?  In 
the  first  place,  Jesus  said  that  no  man  hateth  his  own  flesh. 
It  is  admitted  by  all  that  every  person  loves  himself. 
Now,  if  we  do  rightly  love  ourselves  we  want  to  be  saved 
and  continue  to'  exist,  we  want  to  go  into  the  kingdom 
where  we  can  enjoy  eternity  and  see  no  more  sorrow  nor 
death.  This  is  the  desire  of  every  person  who  believes  in 
God.  Now  take  a  person  in  this  congregation  who  has 
knowledge  with  regard  to  being  saved  in  the  kingdom  of 
our  God  and  our  Father,  and  being  exalted,  one  who 
knows  and  understands  the  principles  of  eternal  life,  and 
sees  the  beauties  and  excellency  of  the  eternities  before  him 
compared  with  the  vain  and  foolish  things  of  the  world, 
and  suppose  that  he  is  overtaken  in  a  gross  fault,  that  he 
has  committed  a  sin  that  he  knows  will  deprive  him  of 
that  exaltation  which  he  desires,  and  that  he  cannot  attain 
to  it  without  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  and  also  knows 
that  by  having  his  blood  shed  he  will  atone  for  that  sin 
and  be  saved  and  exalted  with  the  gods,  is  there  a  man  or 
woman  in  this  house  but  would  say,  'Shed  my  blood  that 
I  might  be  saved  and  exalted  with  the  gods  ?- 

"All  mankind  love  themselves ;  and  let  those  principles 
be  known  by  an  individual,  and  he  would  be  glad  to  have 


208  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

his  blood  shed.  This  would  be  loving  ourselves  even  unto 
an  eternal  exaltation.  Will  you  love  your  brothers  or 
sisters  likewise  when  they  have  a  sin  that  cannot  be  atoned 
for  without  the  shedding  of  their  blood?  That  is  what 
Jesus  Christ  meant.  He  never  told  a  man  or  woman  to 
love  their  enemies  in  their  wickedness,  never.  He  never 
meant  any  such  thing;  his  language  is  left  as  it  is  for 
those  to  read  who  have  the  spirit  to  discern  between  truth 
and  error;  it  was  so  left  for  those  who  can  discern  the 
things  of  God.  Jesus  Christ  never  meant  that  we  should 
love  a  wicked  man  in  his  wickedness. 

"I  could  refer  you  to  plenty  of  instances  where  men 
have  been  righteously  slain  in  order  to  atone  for  their  sins. 
I  have  seen  scores  and  hundreds  of  people  for  whom  there 
would  have  been  a  chance  (in  the  last  resurrection  there 
will  be)  if  their  lives  had  been  taken  and  their  blood 
spilled  on  the  ground  as  a  smoking  incense  to  the  Al- 
mighty, but  who  are  now  angels  to  the  devil,  until  our 
elder  brother,  Jesus  Christ,  raises  them  up,  conquers 
death,  hell  and  the  grave. 

"I  have  known  a  great  many  men  who  have  left  this 
Church  for  whom  there  is  no  chance  whatever  for  exalta- 
tion, but  if  their  blood  had  been  spilled  it  would  have  been 
better  for  them. 

"The  wickedness  and  ignorance  of  the  nations  forbid 
this  principle  being  in  full  force,  but  the  time  will  come 

WHEN  THE  LAW  OF  GOD  WILL  BE  IN  FULL  FORCE.      This  is 

loving  our  neighbor  as  ourselves;  if  he  needs  help,  help 
him;  if  he  wants  salvation  and  it  is  necessary  to  spill  his 
blood  on  the  earth  in  order  that  he  may  be  saved,  spill  it. 
"Any  of  you  who  understand  the  principles  of  eternity, 
if  you  have  sinned  a  sin  requiring  the  shedding  of  blood, 
except  the  sin  unto  death,  should  not  be  satisfied  or  rest 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  209 

until  your  blood  should  be  spilled,  that  you  might  gain 
that  salvation  you  desire.  That  is  the  wav  to  love 
mankind.  *  *  *  Light  and  darkness  cannot  dwell 
together,  and  so  it  is  with  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"Now  brethren,  sisters,  will  you  live  your  religion? 
How  many  hundreds  of  times  have  I  asked  tha^  question? 
Will  the  Latter  Day  Saints  live  their  rehgion? 
Following  this  advice,  Jedediah  Grant  urged : 
"I  say  there  are  men  and  women  here  that  I  would 
advise  to  go  to  the  president  immediately,  and  ask  him  to 
appoint  a  committee  to  attend  to  their  case;  and  then  let 
a  place*  be  selected,  and  let  that  committee  shed  their 
blood." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

AS  A  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEM— BLOOD  ATONE- 
MENT—INSTANCES OF  IT— "OBEDIENT 
TO  LAW." 

How  literally  the  counsels  of  Brigham  Young  and 
others,  as  given  in  the  last  chapter,  were  fulfilled,  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  instances: 

The  wife  of  one  elder,  when  he  was  absent  on  a  mis- 
sion, acted  unfaithfully  towards  him.  Her  husband  took 
counsel  of  the  authorities  and  was  reminded  that  the 
shedding  of  her  blood  alone  could  save  her.  He  returned 
and  told  her,  but  she  asked  for  time,  which  was  readily 
granted.  One  day,  in  a  moment  of  affection,  when  she 
was  seated  on  his  knee,  he  reminded  her  of  her  doom, 
and  suggested  that  now  when  their  hearts  were  full  of 
love  was  a  suitable  time  for  carrying  it  into  execution. 
She  acquiesced  and  out  of  love  he  cut  her  throat  from  ear 
to  ear. 

Franklin  McNeal,  who  had  sued  Brigham  Young  for 
false  imprisonment,  was  killed  at  his  hotel  door.  At 
Springville,  near  Salt  Lake,  there  was  a  family  by  the 
name  of  Parrish.  They  had  at  one  time  been  very  devoted 
to  the  Mormon  church,  but  afterwards  old  man  Parrish 
apostatized,  as  so  many  others  had  done,  and  he  decided 
to  leave  Utah  and  go  to  California.  The  evening  they 
were  to  start,  two  Mormons,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
play  the  part  of  spies  upon  them,  went  to  see  them  and 
proposed  to  assist  them  in  leaving.  When  they  had  gone 
a  little  way,  the  old  man  was  stabbed  to  death,  his  eldest 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  211 

son  was  killed,  the  younger  son  was  severely  wounded, 
but  managed  to  escape — and  all  because  they  were  "apos- 
tates." 

Here  is  a  story  as  related  by  a  Mormon  woman  to  Mrs. 
Stenhouse : 

"When  first  I  came  to  this  country  I  lived  in  the  south- 
ern portion  of  Utah.  One  day  I  saw  a  woman  running 
across  the  fields  towards  our  house,  pale  and  trembling. 
When  she  came  in  she  looked  round  her  as  if  she  were 
frightened,  and  she  asked  if  anyone  besides  our  own 
family  were  present.  On  being  assured  that  there  was 
no  one  present  whom  she  might  fear,  she  said :  'Two  men 
came  to  our  house  late  last  night  and  asked  to  see  my 
husband,  who  had  already  retired.  He  was  in  bed,  but 
they  insisted  that  he  must  get  up,  as  they  had  a  message 
from  the  "authorities"  for  him.  When  they  saw  him 
they  requested  him  to  go  with  them  to  attend,  they  said, 
to  some  church  business.  I  became  very  much  alarmed, 
for  my  poor  husband  had  been  known  to  speak  rather 
freely  of  late  of  some  of  the  measures  of  the  church,  but 
he  tried  to  reassure  me,  and  finally  left  the  house  with 
the  two  men.  In  about  an  hour  after  they  came  back, 
bearing  between  them  his  lifeless  body.  They  laid  him 
upon  the  bed,  and  then  one  of  them  pulled  aside  a  curtain 
which  constituted  our  only  cupboard,  and  took  therefrom 
a  bake-kettle  and  stood  it  beside  the  bed,  in  order  to 
catch  the  blood  that  was  flowing  from  a  fearful  wound  in 
his  throat.  They  then  left  the  house,  telling  me  to  make 
as  little  noise  about  it  as  possible,  or  they  might  serve  me 
in  the  same  way.  The  men  were  masked,  and  I  cannot 
tell  who  they  are,  but  I  spent  a  fearful  night  with  my 
poor  dead  husband.' " 

Dr.  J.  King  Robinson  was  a  young  physician  of  excel- 


212  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

lent  character.  He  had  married  an  ex-Mormon.  H« 
took  a  good  deal  of  interest  in  the  Gentile  Sunday  school. 
He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  the  Rev.  Norman  McLeod, 
who  at  that  time  was  chaplain  at  the  military  post,  and 
was  preaching  in  Independence  Hall  in  opposition  to  the 
Mormon  faith.  The  doctor,  doubtless,  shared  the  senti- 
ments of  the  minister,  and  both  of  them  were  thoroughly 
disliked  by  the  prominent  Mormons.  Dr.  Robinson  had 
a  law  suit  with  the  city  authorities  over  the  possession  of 
some  property.  The  suit  was  decided  against  him  and 
three  days  afterward  he  was  assassinated. 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  murders  committed.  In 
summing  up  the  evidence  in  the  Springville  murders, 
Judge  Cradlebaugh  concluded  an  address  from  the  bench 
as  follows: 

"Men  are  murdered  here — coolly,  deliberately,  pre- 
meditatedly  murdered.  Their  murder  is  deliberated  and 
determined  upon  by  church  council-meetings,  and  that, 
too,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  had  apostatized 
from  your  church  and  were  striving  to  leave  the  terri- 
tory. 

You  are  the  tools,  the  dupes,  the  instruments  of  a 
tyrannical  church  despotism.  The  heads  of  your  church 
order  and  direct  you.  You  are  taught  to  obey  their  orders 
and  commit  these  horrid  murders.  Deprived  of  your 
liberty,  you  have  lost  your  manhood,  and  become  the 
willing  instruments  of  bad  men." 

But  it  may  be  said  that  these  things  occurred  some  time 
ago,  that  Mormonism  has  changed  considerably  since 
then.  So  it  has.  But  the  reason  is,  that  in  the  light  of 
publicity  produced  by  the  railroad  and  telegraph  and 
printing  press,  it  does  not  dare  to  do  now  what  it  used  to 
do   with   impunity.      Its   principles,   however,   have   not 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  213 

changed.  They  remain  the  same.  Give  it  the  same 
power  and  opportunity  as  before  and  the  same  results 
would  follow. 

Sometimes,  instead  of  killing  people,  they  would  sub- 
ject them  to  a  most  disgusting  punishment,  which  was  a 
peculiar  invention  of  the  Mormon  mind.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse,  who  apostatized,  were  treated  that 
way.  Only  a  few  months  ago  Mr.  Charles  Mostyn  Owen, 
who  has  been  quite  active*  in  having  polygamists  arrested 
and  fined,  was  threatened  with  that  punishment. 

Give  Mormonism  the  power  it  seeks  and  everyone  in 
this  country  would  either  have  to  be  Mormons  or  suffer 
persecution  and  perhaps  death.  And  this  is  what  the 
Mormons  mean  when  they  say  in  their  article  of  faith : 

"We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshiping  Almighty  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  our  conscience  and  allow  all 
men  the  same  privilege,  let  them  worship  how,  where  or 
what  they  may." 

These  articles  of  faith,  remember,  were  written  by 
Joseph  Smith,  before  the  sermons  of  Jedediah  M.  Grant 
and  Brigham  Young  and  the  murders  of  Mr.  Parrish  and 
Dr.  Robinson  and  the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre. 
These  were  the  commentaries  upon  this  article. 

The  twelfth  article  of  faith  in  the  Mormon  creed  says : 

"We  believe  in  being  subject  to  kings,  presidents, 
rulers  and  magistrates,  in  obeying,  honoring  and  sustain- 
ing the  law." 

In  view  of  the  history  of  Mormonism,  from  its  origin 
to  the  present,  that  article  certainly  sounds  very  queer. 
In  giving  its  history  I  have  already  shown  the  theocratic 
nature  of  Mormonism,  which  makes  it  unwilling  to  sub- 
mit to  any  other  authority,  and  how  it  has  led  to  constant 
friction  with  the  constituted  authorities  and  sometimes 


214  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

to  open  rebellion.  A  few  points  in  that  history  may  be 
recalled — their  expulsion  from  Missouri  and  from  Illi- 
nois because  of  their  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the  law 
of  the  land,  their  persistent  and  open  defiance  of  the  laws 
against  polygamy,  even  to  the  present  day.  In  fact 
the  whole  course  of  the  Mormons  on  the  subject  of 
polygamy  has  been  one  long  and  shameful  story  of  decep- 
tion, of  insubordination  and  of  defiance  of  law.  They 
have  persistently  broken  every  law  on  the  subject — the 
Cullom  law  of  1862,  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882,  the  Ed- 
munds-Tucker law  of  1887,  and  even  the  laws  of  their 
own  constitution  and  of  their  penal  code  of  Utah.  They 
adopted  these  laws  because  they  were  made  the  condi- 
tion of  the  admission  of  Utah  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 
But  they  adopted  them,  as  afterwards  appeared,  with 
the  full  determination  to  violate  them  whenever  they 
pleased.  They  would  have  acceptd  any  conditions  to  get 
statehood. 

The  presbytery  which  met  at  Manti  in  1898  stated  that 
there  were  over  two  thousand  cases  of  polygamy  in  the 
State,  or  perhaps  I  should  say  of  polygamous  cohabita- 
tion. The  Mormons  understand  by  polygamy  new  polyga- 
mous marriages.  The  statement  of  the  presbytery  was 
vigorously  denied  and  denounced  as  a  slander.  But 
afterwards  one  of  the  apostles  in  conversation  with  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  said  that  the  Presbyterians  made  a 
great  mistake.    They  should  have  said  three  thousand. 

According  to  an  official  statement  issued  by  Mr.  B.  H. 
Roberts  the  day  after  his  exclusion  from  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  for  polygamy — but  not  issued  until 
then — there  are  now  in  the  United  States  1,543  cases  of 
polygamous  cohabitation ;  that  is,  there  are  that  many  men 
living  with  more  than  one  wife.    Most  of  these  cases  are 


M|ppTirfi7liiin. 


THE    RESURRECTION   OF    OSIRIS 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  215 

in  Utah,  in  express  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  State. 
Among  these  lawbreakers  are  presidents  of  stakes,  coun- 
selors, apostles,  bishops,  elders  too  numerous  to  mention 
by  name— in  fact,  nearly  all  the  leading  Mormons.  These 
polygamists  are  upheld  in  their  course  by  a  strong  public 
sentiment  among  the  Mormons  in  favor  of  polygamy.  It 
is  not  considered  any  disgrace,  but  rather  a  virtue,  to  be 
a  lawbreaker.  A  short  while  before  I  was  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  Angus  M.  Cannon,  president  of  the  Salt  Lake  Stake 
of  Zion,  was  arrested  for  living  in  polygamy.  He  pleaded 
guilty,  was  fined  $100— and  the  people  made  up  the 
money  on  the  street  to  pay  the  fine.  While  I  was  there 
Joseph  E.  Taylor,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles,  was  arrested, 
and  because  he  would  not  promise  to  discontinue  his 
polygamous  practices  in  the  future  he  was  fined  $150. 
The  next  Sunday  afternoon,  at  a  service  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, which  I  attended,  and  at  which  there  were  3,000  or 
4,000  Mormons  present,  Angus  M.  Cannon  presided  and 
Joseph  E.  Taylor  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  the 
apostles'  seat. 

One  Sunday  night  I  attended  a  Sunday  school  mass- 
meeting  in  the  Thirteenth  Ward.  At  the  meeting  a  letter 
was  read  from  a  Mormon  missionary  now  in  England,  in 
which  he  said  (I  took  down  the  language  at  the  time)  : 
"I  see  that  our  enemies  are  at  work.  I  am  sorry  to  learn 
that  our  people  are  being  dragged  into  the  courts  for 
obeying  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  and  that  Presi- 
dent Snow  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  these  vultures." 
I  mention  these  facts  to  show : 

1.  That  polygamy,  or,  as  the  Mormons  would  term  it, 
polygamous  cohabitation,  is  being  practiced  in  Utah  to  a 
large  extent. 

2.  That  while  the  offenders  are  fined  by  the  courts, 


2i6  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  public  sentiment  on  the  subject  among  the  Mormons 
is  such  that  they  do  not  lose  their  ecclesiastical  standing, 
but  are  rather  honored  and  sometimes  rewarded  for  what 
they  call  "obeying  the  commandment  of  the  Lord"  in  the 
face  of  persecution. 

And  this  is  what  the  Mormons  mean  in  their  article  of 
faith : 

"We  believe  in  being  subject  to  kings,  presidents,  rulers 
and  magistrates,  in  obeying,  honoring  and  sustaining  the 
law." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— POLYGAMY— ARRESTS. 

The  last  article  in  the  Mormon  creed  says :  "We  be- 
lieve in  being  honest,  true,  chaste,  benevolent,  virtuous, 
and  in  doing  good  to  All  Men;  indeed  we  may  say  that 
we  follow  the  admonition  of  Paul,  'We  believe  all  things, 
we  hope  all  things,  we  have  endured  many  things,  and 
hope  to  be  able  to  endure  all  things/  If  there  is  anything 
virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good  report  or  praiseworthy  we 
seek  after  these  things." 

This  certainly  sounds  very  pretty.  But  it  comes  under 
the  head  of  "interesting,  if  true."  Is  it  true?  We  have 
been  considering  the  historical  and  religious  side  of  Mor- 
monism.    Let  us  now  look  at  its  social  side. 

As  the  cornerstone  of  its  social  system  is  polygamy,  let 
us  consider  that  at  some  length. 

In  giving  the  history  of  Mormonism  I  discussed  some- 
what the  subject  of  polygamy,  showing  that  Jo- 
seph Smith  claimed  that  the  revelation  in  regard 
to  polygamy  had  been  given  to  him  July  12,  1843. 
Mr.  B.  H.  Roberts  now  asserts  that  "It  was  in 
183 1  that  plural  marriage  was  first  made  known  to  Joseph 
Smith."  And  he  is  probably  correct ;  only  the  person  who 
made  it  known  to  him  at  that  time  was  the  devil,  not  the 
Lord.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  practiced  by  Smith  long 
before  1843,  and  it  finally,  as  we  have  seen,  led  to  his 
death  in  1844.  It  was  also  practiced  secretly  by  Brigham 
Young  and  others.  But  it  was  not  promulgated  as  a  doc- 
trine until  1852,  after  the  Mormons  had  reached  Utah  and 

217 


218  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

when  they  thought  themselves  secure  from  molestation 
by  the  hated  United  States  laws.  Up  to  that  time,  while, 
as  I  said,  it  was  secretly  practiced,  it  was  strenuously 
denied  by  the  Mormon  leaders.  For  instance,  while  John 
Taylor,  who  afterwards  succeeded  Brigham  Young  as 
president  of  the  Mormon  Church,  was  missionary  in  Bou- 
logne, France,  in  1850,  he  was  asked  if  the  Mormons  did 
not  believe  in  polygamy.  He  denied  it  vigorously.  At 
that  very  time  he  had  at  least  six  wives  living  in  America. 

But  after  1853  tne  mask  was  thrown  off  and  it  was 
openly  practiced.  For  a  time  the  "Saints"  were  a  little 
slow  to  take  hold  of  the  doctrine.  But  after  awhile  polyg- 
amy became  a  regular  epidemic.  Every  Mormon  was 
counseled  to  take  as  many  wives  as  possible  so  as  to 
"build  up  the  kingdom,"  and,  of  course,  he  was  required 
to  "obey  counsel,"  however  much  it  might  be  against  his 
inclinations.  Sometimes  this  resulted  in  a  good  deal  of 
inconvenience.  An  instance  is  given  of  two  men,  about 
60  years  of  age,  each  of  whom  was  counseled  by  the 
priesthood  to  take  another  wife,  but  who  were  unable  to 
comply  because  they  could  not  find  any  suitable  partners. 
They  had  all  been  taken.  After  awhile  they  heard  of  a 
man  who  had  two  daughters,  one  14  and  the  other  12. 
They  went  to  him,  explained  the  situation,  and  asked  him 
to  relieve  them  of  their  embarrassment.  He  objected  at 
first,  but  finally  consented.  It  became  a  proverb  about 
this  time  that  if  you  should  hang  a  petticoat  on  a  fence 
pole  and  shake  it,  half  a  dozen  men  would  flock  at  once  to 
marry  it. 

In  1862  Congress  passed  the  Cullom  law  against  polyg- 
amy, in  1882  the  Edmunds  law  and  in  1887  the  Edmunds- 
Tucker  law.  I  have  already  given  the  substance  of  these 
laws.     The  last  was  so  stringent  that  it  could  not  be 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  219 

evaded.  Many  went  to  prison  for  disobeying  it.  The 
church  property  was  confiscated.  In  1890  President 
Woodruff  had  a  "revelation"  and  issued  a  manifesto,  in 
which  he  stated  that  he  proposed  to  obey  the  laws  and  ad- 
vised every  one  else  to  do  so. 

On  Jan.  4,  1893,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  President 
Harrison  granting  amnesty  to  those  Mormons  who  were 
in  exile  and  in  the  penitentiary.  This  was  expressly 
"conditioned  upon  the  faithful  observance  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  against  unlawful  cohabitation.'' 

On  Sept.  25,  1894,  President  Cleveland  issued  a  similar 
amnesty  proclamation,  from  whose  provisions  he  excepted 
such  "persons  as  have  not  complied  with  the  conditions 
contained  in  said  executive  proclamation  of  Jan.  4,  1893. 

These  amnesty  proclamations  were  made  on  the  most 
solemn  promise  of  the  Mormon  leaders,  pledging  their 
"faith  and  honor"  that  old  polygamous  relations  should 
cease  and  that  no  new  polygamous  marriages  would  be 
consummated,  in  other  words,  that  they  would  obey  the 
laws. 

They  then  applied  for  statehood,  which  was  granted 
in  1896.  Having  secured  this,  and  thinking  themselves 
secure,  they  had  the  legislature  of  Utah  to  pass  the  follow- 
ing law : 

"If  any  male  person  cohabits  with  more  than  one 
woman  he  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  con- 
viction thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more 
than  $300,  or  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  not 
more  than  six  months  or  by  both  said  punishments  in  the 
discretion  of  the  courts."  (Revised  Statutes  of  Utah. 
1898,  p.  900,  section  4209.) 

This  law,  as  is  now  admitted,  was  intended  for  "foreign 
consumption,"  not  for  home  consumption.    The  Mormons 


220  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

themselves  say  it  was  never  intended  to  be  enforced.  The 
old  polygamous  practices  were  then  resumed  all  over  the 
state. 

Nearly  all  of  the  Mormon  leaders,  presidents,  counsel- 
ors, apostles  and  bishops  have  two  or  more  wives,  as  have 
some  of  the  people,  though  not  many,  as  they  are  generally 
too  poor.     I  met  one  layman  who  has  three  wives.    He 
has  five  children  by  the  first,  four  by  the  second  and  four 
by  the  third.     I  was  told  that  his  first  wife  "abominates 
polygamy" — as  well  she  might.    President  Snow  has  had 
nine  wives,  five  of  whom  are  living.    He  lives,  however, 
with  only  one — the  youngest.     Brigham  Young  is  com- 
monly credited  with  having  had  nineteen  wives,  but  the 
guide  in  the  Tabernacle  told  me  that  he  had  twenty-six, 
and  sold  me  a  book  purporting  to  contain  their  pictures, 
which  I  shall  be  glad  to  show  my  friends.     But  Heber  C. 
Kimball  broke  the  record,  it  is  said,  with  forty-five  wives. 
When  charges  were  made  that  the  Mormons  were  con- 
tinuing to  practice  polygamous  cohabitation  they  replied  : 
"If  that  is  so,  prove  it ;  the  courts  are  open."    No  one  had 
cared  especially  to  carry  the  matter  into  court,  as  it  would 
involve  considerable  trouble  and  would  probably  lead  to 
unpleasant   relations   with   his   neighbors.     But   Charles 
Mostyn  Owen,  a  Welchman,  representative  of  the  New 
York  Journal,  decided  that  he  would  accept  the  challenge. 
So  he  went  quietly  to  work.    The  result  was  the  arrest  of 
President  Angus  M.  Cannon,  president  of  the  Salt  Lake 
Stake,  and  of  Apostle  Heber  J.  Grant.    What  did  they  do  ? 
They  pleaded  guilty,  were  fined  $100  each,  which  they 
paid,  and  returned  to  their  holy  duties — and  their  polyga- 
mous cohabitation.     Apostle  Joseph  E.  Taylor  was  also 
arrested,  and  after  my  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City  he  was 
brought  before  the  court,  and  because  he  would  not  prom- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  221 

ise  to  discontinue  his  polygamous  cohabitation  in  the  fu- 
ture he  was  fined  $150. 

Charles  Kelly  was  indicted  at  Bingham  City  for  unlaw- 
ful cohabitation.  He  pleaded  guilty,  and  offensively  ar- 
raigned the  court  for  its  definition  of  his  offense.  Shortly 
afterward  he  was  promoted  to  be  president  of  the  Box 
Elder  Stake.  The  Salt  Lake  Tribune  said :  "His  reward 
came  soon,  and  it  is  most  unseemly." 

While  I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City  Mr.  Owen  filed  thirty- 
one  affidavits  against  citizens  of  Cache  county,  charging 
thirty  of  them  with  unlawful  cohabitation  and  one,  the  son 
of  an  apostle,  with  adultery.  Cache  county  is  probably 
the  strongest  Mormon  community  in  the  state,  98  per  cent 
of  the  population  being  Mormons.  The  paper  quotes  Mr. 
Owen  as  saying  that  the  list  of  alleged  offenders  was  by 
no  means  exhausted.  The  paper  adds  that  "ecclesias- 
tically the  list  ranges  from  low  officials  to  an  apostle,  and 
civilly  from  a  justice  of  the  peace  to  the  secretary  of  the 
agricultural  college.  In  filing  charges  against  so  many  at 
one  time,  Mr.  Owen  intends  to  refute  the  assertions  of 
the  defenders  of  the  system  that  there  may  be  a  'few 
sporadic  cases'  of  such  unlawful  cohabitation." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— POLYGAMY— WHAT 
THE  MORMONS  SAY  ABOUT  IT— NEW 
CASES. 

In  the  last  chapter  I  showed  that  polygamy — or  as  the 
Mormons  call  it,  polygamous  cohabitation — is  still  being 
practiced  extensively  in  Utah. 

What  do  the  Mormons  say  about  these  things  ?  Instead 
of  undertaking  to  speak  for  them,  I  shall  let  them  speak 
for  themselves,  but  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  not 
have  studied  the  subject  I  shall  answer  their  arguments. 

The  Salt  Lake  Herald  of  Nov.  26,  1899,  contained  a 
long  article  from  Apostle  Joseph  E.  Taylor  defending  him- 
self and  others  who  like  him  are  practicing  polygamous 
cohabitation.  I  presume  he  will  be  considered  good  Mor- 
mon authority.  I  quote  only  a  few  sentences  from  the 
article,  but  these  will  serve  to  show  its  gist.    He  says : 

"I  would  ask:  Is  the  act  of  which  I  was  accused  es- 
sentially a  crime?  Or  in  other  words:  Is  it  a  crime  in 
and  of  itself?  From  my  standpoint  it  is  not.  That  it  is 
made  so  by  statutory  enactment  I  freely  admit,  but  that 
does  not  constitute  it  a  crime  independent  of  such  statute." 

By  this  Apostle  Taylor  means  to  say  that  while  polyga- 
mous cohabitation  is  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  it  is 
not  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  Mormons,  and  he  puts  his 
religious  belief  above  the  laws  of  the  State  and  of  the 
land. 

Again  the  apostle  said  :  "The  anti-polygamy  law  known 
as  the  Cullom  bill,  passed  in  1862,  was  considered  to  be  a 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  223 

dead  letter,  and  that  it  would  never  possess  any  life.  Such 
was  the  honest  conviction  of  the  Mormon  people.  Twenty 
years  afterward,  when  this  old  law  was  fanned  into  life 
and  sustained  by  other  laws  passed  for  a  specific  purpose 
—which  must  be  classed  in  future  history  as  special  legis- 
lation, as  well  as  ex  post  facto  in  character,  which  is 
strictly  forbidden  in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
(Art.  I,  Sec.  9)— we  then  firmly  believed  that  the  court  of 
last  resort  would  declare  the  same  unconstitutional." 

But  what  right  had  the  Mormon  people  to  consider  the 
Cullom  law  a  "dead  letter  ?"     And  what  right  had  they  to 
believe  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  would 
declare  the  Edmunds  law  unconstitutional?    They  put  it 
on  the  ground  that  Congress  has  no  right  to  interfere  with 
the  religion  of  people,  and  polygamy  is  a  part  of  their  re- 
ligion.   In  the  same  way  Freeman,  who  murdered  his  child 
in  Maine  some  years  ago,  declaring  that  he  was  com- 
manded by  the  Lord  to  do  so,  might  have  claimed  that 
murder  was  a  part  of  his  religion  and  that,  consequently, 
the  law  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  him  in  the  exercise 
of  his  religion.    So  also  might  any  murderer  or  any  high- 
way robber  declare  that  he  was  simply  exercising  his 
religion  in  what  he  did.    But  he  would  be  apt  to  find,  as 
the  Mormons  found,  that  the  law  considers  that  a  person's 
rights  end  where  another's  rights  begin.    And  this  is  true 
in  religion  as  well  as  in  other  things.     But  suppose  the 
Mormons  did  believe  that  the  Edmunds  law  would  be  de- 
clared unconstitutional,  what  right  had  they  to  continue  to 
violate  it  until  it  was  declared  unconstitutional?    As  long 
as  it  remained  on  the  statute  books  it  was  the  law,  and  as 
such  demanded  obedience. 

Apostle  Taylor  goes  on  to  say : 

"There  is  nothing  in  the  manifesto,  in  the  enabling  act 


224  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

or  in  the  Constitution  of  Utah  that  touches  upon  or  relates 
in  any  sense  whatever  to  plural  marriages  entered  into 
previous  to  the  dates  I  have  mentioned ;  the  assertions  of 
ministers,  politicians  and  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  Mor- 
mon people  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

But  what  about  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  mani- 
festo by  Presidents  Woodruff  and  Snow  on  the  witness 
stand  that  it  related  not  only  to  future  polygamous  mar- 
riages, but  also  to  polygamous  cohabitation?  And  what 
about  the  law  of  the  State  of  Utah  upon  the  subject  of  un- 
lawful cohabitation? 

Apostle  Taylor  says  again : 

"This  brings  us  to  the  question  at  issue:  What  shall 
be  done  with  plural  wives  who  entered  into  that  relation 
prior  to  the  decision  of  the  court  of  last  resort?  Shall 
they  be  abandoned,  one  and  all,  or,  as  in  my  case,  shall  I 
select  one  of  the  two  plural  wives  named  in  the  complaint 
— -there  being  no  legal  wife?  If  so,  which  one;  and  live 
with  her  exclusively,  discarding  the  other,  and  that,  too, 
without  consulting  her  at  all  in  the  matter,  and  say  to  her : 
'Hereafter  you  must  not  come  near  me.  I  will  give  you 
food  and  clothing  for  yourself  and  children,  but  you  must 
seek  other  society  than  mine.'  " 

To  this  the  reply  is  simply  that  no  one  proposes  to  de- 
mand that  these  plural  wives  shall  be  "abandoned."  They 
ought  to  be  supported.  But  what  the  law  does  demand, 
and  what  public  sentiment  demands,  and  what  Christian 
civilization  demands,  and  what  common  decency  demands, 
is  that  a  man  shall  not  live  with  more  than  one  woman  as 
a  husband,  that  he  shall  not  cohabit  with  her  and  beget 
children  by  her. 

Apostle  Taylor  closes  by  saying : 

"Polygamous  marriages  are  things  of  the  past.    Some 


- 


• 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  225 

few  polygamous  relations  entered  into  in  the  past  still  con- 
tinue. To  allow  them  to  remain  undisturbed  is  the  wisest, 
the  most  humane  and  the  only  magnanimous  course  to 
pursue ;  which  the  people  of  this  great  nation  can  afford  to 
do.  Let  the  law  in  relation  thereto  remain  a  dead  letter 
upon  our  statute  books.  The  Mormon  people  can  be 
trusted  implicitly;  their  word  of  promise  is  a  sacred 
pledge.  It  will  be  kept  inviolate,  as  every  other  promise 
made  by  them  in  the  past  has  been.  Call  off  the  blood- 
hounds and  let  us  have  peace.,, 

A  few  questions  are  in  order.    Are  "polygamous  mar- 
riages things  of  the  past?"    We  shall  see  about  that  di- 
rectly.   Is  it  true  that  only  "some  few  polygamous  rela- 
tions entered  into  in  the  past  still  continue  ?"    As  we  have 
seen    there  are  1,543  men  now  living  with  polygamous 
wives  in  the  state  of  Utah.    What  is  the  use  of  passing  a 
law  if  it  is  to  remain  a  "dead  letter?"    Can  the  Mormon 
people  be  "trusted  implicitly?"    Is  "their  word  of  promise 
a  sacred  pledge?"     Has  "every  other  promise  made  by 
them  in  the  past"  been  "kept  inviolate?"    Of  course,  by 
"the  Mormon  people,"  Apostle  Taylor  meant  the  Mormon 
leaders.     What  about  the  promise  made  by  Presidents 
Woodruff  and  Snow  on  the  witness  stand  in  order  to  re- 
cover their  confiscated  church  property,  that  not  only 
future  polygamous  marriages,  but  polygamous  cohabita- 
tion should  cease?    Has  that  been  kept  "inviolate?"    Has 
it  been  kept  inviolate  by  Apostle  Taylor  himself?    The 
fine  of  $150  imposed  upon  him  for  unlawful  cohabitation 
is  sufficient  answer  to  the  question. 

"Call  off  the  bloodhounds  and  let  us  have  peace.  bo 
any  criminal  might  say.  That  would  be  an  easy  way  to 
have  peace.  But  it  would  be  peace  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
law,  and  peace  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  dignity  of  the  state, 


226  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

and  at  the  sacrifice  of  righteousness  and  of  all  the  finer 
sentiments  of  humanity.  I  imagine  that  the  American 
people  will  not  be  satisfied  to  "call  off  the  bloodhounds" 
until  there  is  no  further  need  for  them.  Then  they  will 
call  them  off,  and  then  we  will  "have  peace" — then,  but 
not  till  then. 

The  Salt  Lake  Tribune  of  November  27,  1899,  contained 
interviews  with  a  number  of  citizens  of  Cache  County 
with  reference  to  the  affidavits  which  had  been  filed 
against  thirty  of  the  leading  citizens  of  that  County  for 
unlawful  cohabitation.  Here  is  the  way  they  view  the 
matter  up  there.  I  quote  most  of  the  interviews.  They 
are  all  of  the  same  tenor,  with  the  exception  of  one  by  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  Rev.  N.  E.  Clemenson,  who  says : 

"I  think  the  law  should  be  fairly  and  impartially  en- 
forced against  all  citizens  without  distinction.  One  crime 
should  be  shown  no  favoritism  over  another  in  this  re- 
gard." 

In  this  expression  Mr.  Clemenson  voices  the  sentiments 
of  the  Christian  people  of  the  United  States.  But  others 
in  Cache  County  do  not  agree  with  him. 

John  A.  Hendrickson  says :  "We  who  look  upon  this 
matter  from  a  church  standpoint  construe  Owen's  actions 
as  an  attack  aimed  at  the  Mormon  church.  I  think  if 
Owen  felt  the  necessity  of  improving  'the  moral  tone  of 
mankind  he  could  find  plenty  of  immoralities  against 
which  to  exercise  his  activity  rather  than  create  this  trou- 
ble for  a  few  citizens  who  care  for  their  families."  Mr. 
Hendrickson  here  admits  the  Mormon  belief  in  polygamy, 
and  claims  that  the  filing  of  affidavits  against  people  for 
unlawful  cohabitation  is  "an  attack  upon  the  Mormon 
church,"  thus  putting  the  whole  Mormon  church  in  the 
attitude  of  a  willful  and  flagrant  lawbreaker.  In  this  he 
was  probably  not  far  wrong. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  227 

Mr.  Hendrickson  also  suggests  that  Mr.  Owen  could 
find  "plenty  of  immoralities  against  which  to  exercise  his 
activity"  elsewhere.  Any  criminal  might  make  the  same 
argument  to  any  prosecutor. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Parkinson  says :  "I  look  upon  Owen  in  the 
same  way  as  I  would  look  upon  a  procurer.  He  has  no 
right  whatever  to  come  here  and  file  suits.  If  the  15,000 
people  of  this  county  cannot  take  care  of  their  own  legal 
affairs,  no  one  from  the  outside  should  feel  it  his  duty  to 
meddle  with  them." 

And  so  Jesse  James  and  his  gang  might  have  said  to  the 
officers  of  the  law :  "You  let  us  alone.  You  have  no  right 
to  come  here  and  interfere  with  our  business." 

Attorney  George  T.  Rich  is  quoted  as  saying :  "I  do  not 
believe  that  the  threatened  prosecution  will  be  or  should  be 
tolerated  in  Cache  County.  I  think  that  the  Prosecuting 
Attorney  should  take  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  all  of  the 
respected  citizens  of  this  region,  both  Mormon  and  Gen- 
tile, are  opposed  to  such  prosecutions.  Owen  has  quali- 
fied himself  to  file  such  suits,  it  is  true,  but  he  is  not  a 
bona  fide  resident,  and  can  have  no  personal  interest  in  the 
alleged  violation  of  the  law." 

This, mark  you,  is  from  an  attorney,  a  man  who  is  sworn 
to  uphold  the  law.  "All  of  the  respected  citizens  of  this 
region  are  opposed  to  such  prosecutions."  Who  are  the 
respected  citizens  of  that  region?  Why,  those  who  are 
"opposed  to  such  prosecutions,"  of  course.  Mr.  Owen 
has  "no  personal  interest  in  the  alleged  violation  of  the 
law."  Neither  have  the  people  of  the  United  States  out- 
side of  Cache  County.  Neither  have  I  any  personal  inter- 
est in  the  prosecution  of  a  murderer.  But  I  have  a  good 
deal  of  moral  interest  in  it,  and  I  want  to  see  the  law 
enforced.     Besides,  I  have  a  personal  interest  in  it  from 


228  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  fact  that  in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  lies  my  own 
safety. 

Robert  Murdock  said  he  knew  every  one  of  the  men 
against  whom  suit  was  to  be  filed  and  he  knew  they  were 
all  honorable  American  citizens,  who  had  not  married 
their  wives  since  the  manifesto  was  issued.  He  knew  they 
had  no  intention  of  willfully  violating  the  law,  and  thought 
Owen  was  making  a  mistake  in  prosecuting  them. 

The  manifesto  ?  The  Mormons  are  continually  throw- 
ing up  the  manifesto  to  us,  and  saying  that  there  have 
been  no  new  marriages  since  the  manifesto.  But  what 
have  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  do  with  the  mani- 
festo? Their  will  upon  the  subject  of  polygamy  was 
expressed  in  the  Cullom  law  of  1862,  the  Edmunds  law  of 
1882,  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887,  and  by  the  en- 
abling act  of  1894.  It  was  incorporated  also  in  the  laws 
of  Utah,  both  in  its  Constitution  and  in  its  penal  code. 
These  laws  are  all  that  the  people  of  this  country  care 
about.  Have  they  been  obeyed  ?  Are  they  being  obeyed  ? 
But  the  fact  that  the  Mormons  in  talking  about  polyga- 
mous marriages,  always  ignore  the  law  against  them  and 
talk  only  about  there  having  been  none  since  the  mani- 
festo, indicates  that  they  put  the  manifesto  of  President 
Woodruff  above  all  the  laws  of  the  land,  that  they  cared 
nothing  for  the  laws,  and  only  had  regard  for  the  will  of 
their  president.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  is  quite 
a  question  as  to  whether  there  have  not  been  some  polyga- 
mous marriages  since  the  manifesto  of  1890. 

Take  the  case  of  Mr.  Roberts,  for  instance.  If  he  mar- 
ried Dr.  Maggie  C.  Shipp  before  the  manifesto  he  and  she 
certainly  acted  very  queerly.  Usually  when  a  man  mar- 
ries a  woman  she  takes  his  name.  But  it  was  not  until 
1897,  seven  years  after  the  manifesto,  that  she  changed 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  229 

her  name  from  Dr.  Maggie  Shipp  to  Dr.  Margaret  C. 

Roberts. 

But  the  question  is  frequently  asked :    Have  there  been 
any  instances  of  polygamous  marriages  since  statehood? 

The  following  instances  are  given :  Lilian  Hamblin  was 
engaged  to  David  Cannon.  He  died  while  on  a  mission 
in  Germany.  Abram  H.  Cannon  already  had  three 
wives.  But  in  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  he  decided  to  take 
Lilian  and  raise  up  seed  to  his  brother,  David,  according 
to  the  old  Jewish  custom,  and  according  to  Mormon  teach- 
ings. So  they  went  to  San  Francisco  in  June,  1896.  Where 
they  were  married  or  by  whom  is  not  known.  But  soon 
after  their  return  he  was  taken  sick  and  died  on  July  26, 
1896.  All  four  wives  were  at  the  funeral.  In  1897  a  child 
was  born  to  Lilian.  She  then  went  to  school  under  the 
name  of  Mrs.  Cannon,  to  prepare  herself  for  teaching,  and 
she  is  now  teaching  in  Brigham  Academy,  a  Mormon  in- 
stitution at  Provo,  near  Salt  Lake  City,  under  the  name 
of  Mrs.  Cannon. 

Another :  Marion  Scoles  went  to  reside  in  the  family 
of  Apostle  George  Teasdale,  at  Nephi,  in  Utah,  as  nurse 
for  his  children.  He  already  had  at  least  one  wife,  if  not 
more.  This  was  in  1897.  In  August,  1898,  she  subscribed 
to  a  book  and  signed  her  name  Marion  Scoles  Teasdale. 
On  December  17,  1898,  she  died  in  childbirth.  Her  lov- 
ing husband  had  a  tombstone  erected  over  her  grave  with 
the  inscription  upon  it :  "Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Mar- 
ion Scoles  Teasdale,  wife  of  Apostle  George  Teasdale. 
Born  in  London,  England,  April  6,  1865.  Died  December 
7,  1898."  A  photograph  of  the  tombstone  was  taken,  a 
copy  of  which  I  have  seen.  The  wife  of  a  prominent  apos- 
tle, when  shown  the  article  with  the  above  facts,  said  it 

was  absolutely  true. 


230  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

When  Apostle  George  Teasdale  and  Marion  Scoles 
were  married  and  by  whom  are  uncertain  quantities.  That 
they  were  married  seems  beyond  question.  That  they  were 
not  married  by  State  authorities  is  quite  certain.  Who 
married  them  ? 

It  is  stated  also  that  a  number  of  Mormons  have  gene 
to  Canada  or  to  Mexico  to  be  married  to  their  polygamous 
wives  since  the  manifesto  and  since  statehood — how  many 
can  only  be  conjectured.  I  should  say,  however,  that  I 
do  not  believe  that  instances  of  polygamous  marriages 
since  statehood,  or  since  the  manifesto,  have  been  very 
numerous.  But  the  reason  for  it  is  not  because  the  Mor- 
mons do  not  believe  in  polygamy,  but  simply  because  the 
younger  generation  are  afraid  to  undertake  to  practice  it, 
and  because  they  feel  themselves  released  from  obliga- 
tions to  do  so  since  the  manifesto  of  President  Woodruff. 
But  this  manifesto  did  not  propose  to  abolish  polygamy  as 
a  principle,  but  only  to  suspend  its  practice  for  the  sake  of 
expediency. 

In  the  next  chapter  I  will  give  their  reasons  for  their 
belief  in  polygamy. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— REASONS  FOR  BELIEF 
IN  POLYGAMY. 

I  have  shown  that  many  Mormons  in  Utah  are  now 
living  in  polygamous  cohabitation  with  two  or  more 
wives,  and  have  let  them  state  their  reasons  for  it.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is  that  polygamy  is  as  much  a  part  of 
the  Mormon  creed  as  it  ever  was.  They  will  all  tell  you 
that  they  believe  in  it,  all  except  the  missionaries,  who 
prefer  not  to  discuss  the  subject  and  always  evade  it.  I 
was  told  over  and  over  again  in  Salt  Lake  City  by  Mor- 
mons, men  and  women,  married  and  unmarried,  that  they 
believed  in  polygamy.  Only  one  person  who  claimed  to 
be  a  Mormon  to  whom  I  put  the  question  denied  believing 
in  it,  and  she  was  an  intelligent  young  lady  who  said  that 
"intellect  is  everything/'  and  who  did  not  believe  a  single 
distinctive  Mormon  doctrine.  As  I  told  her,  she  is  not  a 
good  Mormon.  She  represents,  I  think,  a  growing  class 
of  young  people  there  who  are  losing  faith  in  Mormonism. 
But  wherever  you  find  a  genuine  Mormon  you  will  find 
one  who  believes  in  polygamy,  whether  he  practices  it  or 
not.  As  a  number  said  to  me,  it  is  a  "part  of  our  relig- 
ion."   They  have  several  reasons  for  believing  in  it. 

I.  They  say  that  God  sanctioned  it  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  in  the  case  of  Abraham  and  Jacob  and  David. 
This  was  the  argument  used  by  Joseph  Smith  in  the 
"revelation"  decreeing  the  establishment  of  polygamy. 
In  the  Improvement  Era  for  May,  1898,  of  which  B.  H. 
Roberts  was  at  that  time  the  editor,  he  had  an  extended 


232  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

article  on  the  subject  of  polygamy,  in  which  he  made  the 
same  argument.  This  reason  is  now  urged  by  some,  but 
not  very  strongly.  They  leave  out  of  account  the  follow- 
ing facts : 

(a)  That  God  originally  created  only  one  man  and  one 
woman.  If  they  make  any  reply  to  this  it  would  be  in  the 
language  of  Brigham  Young:  that  God  came  down  to 
earth  in  the  form  of  Adam,  and  "brought  Eve,  one  of  His 
wives,  with  Him." 

(b)  That  God  permitted  polygamy,  as  Jesus  said  He 
did  divorce,  "because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts." 
In  the  childhood  of  the  human  race  God  permitted  some 
things  which  He  afterwards  refused. 

(c)  There  is  no  instance  of  polygamy  in  the  New 
Testament,  though  nearly  all  Mormons  believe  and  some 
will  openly  say  that  Jesus  lived  in  polygamy  while  on 
earth  with  Mary  and  Martha  and  Mary  Magdalene — an 
imputation  too  absurd  and  too  blasphemous  to  need  seri- 
ous refutation.  But  certainly  the  tenor  of  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament  is  against  polygamy,  to  say  the 
least.  When  Paul  said  that  the  bishop  must  be  'the  hus- 
band of  one  wife,"  he  evidently  meant  of  only  one,  though 
the  Mormons  take  it  to  mean  of  at  least  one. 

(d)  In  maintaining  the  practical  numerical  equality  of 
the  sexes,  God  evidently  intended  that  there  should  be  one 
woman  to  one  man. 

(e)  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  said  that  there  are  about 
2,000,000  more  men  in  the  United  States  than  women. 
So  that  if  polygamy  were  permissible  anywhere  else,  it 
certainly  would  not  be  in  this  country. 

But  I  need  not  argue  the  question  of  polygamy.  It  is 
most  too  late  in  the  day  to  do  so.  I  make  the  above  sug- 
gestions, however,  in  case  any  of  my  readers  may  have 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  233 

occasion  to  discuss  the  subject  with  some  Mormon  elders 
sometime.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  missionaries  are  very 
shy  about  discussing  polygamy,  though  most  Mormons 
will  discuss  it  freely  in  Utah,  and  contend  for  it  stoutly. 

2.  To  the  Mormon  a  stronger  argument  for  polygamy 
than  that  it  is  sanctioned  by  God  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  found  in  the  fact  that,  as  they  claim,  it  was  commanded 
by  the  Lord  through  His  prophet,  Joseph  Smith.  Even 
B.  H.  Roberts  says  in  the  article  in  the  Improvement  Era, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made :  "Subsequently,  Joseph 
Smith  received  a  commandment  from  the  Lord  to  intro- 
duce that  order  of  marriage  into  the  church,  and  on  the 
strength  of  that  revelation,  and  not  by  reason  of  anything  ( 
that  is  written  in  the  old  Jewish  Scriptures,  the  Latter 
Day  Saints  practiced  plural  marriage."  In  saying  this  he 
practically  gives  up  the  scriptural  argument  and  rests  his 
case  in  the  transcendent  authority  of  Joseph  Smith. 

3.  They  argue  that  a  man  needs  more  than  one  woman. 
This  is  the  physiological  argument.  It  is  certainly  a  very 
low  one.  It  puts  man  on  a  level  with  the  brutes— with  the 
stud-horse,  the  jackass,  the  billy-goat  and  the  rooster.  In 
earlier  days  it  used  to  be  used  frequently  under  the  name 
of  the  barnyard  illustration.  They  forget  that  a  wife  is 
far  more  than  a  woman. 

4.  Kindred  to  the  above  is  the  argument  that  polygamy 
makes  a  man  a  better  man.  This  argument  is  used  quite 
frequently.  I  have  heard  it  several  times,  both  from  men 
and  women.  The  idea  is,  if  I  may  be  pardoned  for  ex- 
pressing it,  that  as  a  man  needs  more  than  one  woman,  if 
he  can't  get  them  in  one  way,  he  will  in  another,  and  the 
Mormons  imply  very  broadly,  and  seem  to  believe,  that 
this  is  true  generally  of  the  men  in  other  States,  and  they 
boast  that  they  take  their  wives  openly  instead  of  secretly. 


234  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

While  this  imputation  applies  to  some,  sad  to  say,  yet  it  is 
of  course  the  grossest  slander  upon  most  men,  and  could 
only  be  born  in  minds  whose  whole  thoughts  are  steeped 
in  sensualism. 

5.  They  say  that  the  first,  if  not  the  chief,  duty  of  men 
and  women  is  to  "be  faithful  and  multiply  and  replenish 
the  earth,"  and  this  can  best  be  done  through  polygamy. 
This  idea  seems  to  underlie  all  of  their  thinking.  In  a 
Sunday-school  mass-meeting  one  Sunday  night,  to  which 
I  have  previously  referred,  I  heard  a  young  man  urge 
upon  the  people  the  importance  of  sending  their  children 
to  the  Sunday-school,  saying  that  while  it  was  their  first 
duty  to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,  they  should  also 
train  their  offspring. 

6.  It  has  been  surmised  that  Joseph  Smith  made  a  cal- 
culation of  this  kind:  One  man,  one  woman,  100  years, 
equals  so  many  Mormons.  One  man,  three  women,  100 
years,  equals  so  many  more  Mormons.  One  would  mean 
an  arithmetical  ratio  of  increase  and  the  other  a  geomet- 
rical, and  by  the  latter  ratio  the  Mormons  would  soon  take 
the  world. 

7.  They  not  only  believe  that  God  is  a  married  man,  but 
that  He  is  a  polygamist ;  and,  as  I  have  stated,  they  be- 
lieve that  Christ  was  a  polygamist  on  earth,  and  conse- 
quently is  in  heaven,  because  they  say  that  a  man  marries 
a  wife  not  only  for  time,  but  for  eternity. 

8.  They  believe  that  God  is  generating  spirits;  that 
these  spirits  are  imperfect ;  that  they  are  longing  and 
anxious  for  bodies  so  that  they  may  have  a  higher  state 
in  glory,  because  it  is  the  privilege  of  every  man  to  become 
a  God,  but  not  of  these  spirits,  except  as  they  pass 
through  human  bodies.  And  consequently  it  is  the  sacred 
duty  of  every  man  to  generate  as  many  bodies  as  possible 
for  these  spirits  to  occupy. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  235 

9.  They  believe  that  a  man  who  has  several  wives  will 
have  greater  exaltation  in  heaven  than  one  who  has  not. 
Some  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  a  man's  deifi- 
cation depends  upon  his  having  at  least  three  wives. 

I  have  mentioned  these  reasons  which  the  Mormons 
have  for  believing  in  polygamy  to  show  how  thoroughly 
polygamy  is  a  part  of  the  Mormon  system,  and  how  com- 
pletely it  is  interwoven  into  all  the  warp  and  woof  of 
their  thoughts  and  their  doctrines.  That  they  still  be- 
lieve in  polygamy  is  indicated  by  the  following  circum- 
stance: The  editor  of  the  Vernal  Express,  a  Mormon 
paper,  as  ward  teacher,  ha'd  been  denying  that  the  Mor- 
mons believed  in  polygamy,  in  order  to  gain  some  Gentiles, 
but  Apostle  Cowley  said  to  the  editor : 

"The  law  of  plural  marriage  is  God  given  and  as  eter- 
nal as  any  law  ever  given  by  the  Father,  and  that  any 
persons  who  disbelieved  it,  or  sought  to  hide  behind  the 
government  restriction  or  the  manifesto,  or  were  afraid 
to  advocate  its  principles  were  not  Latter  Day  Saints." — 
Apostle  M.  F.  Cowley,  reported  in  Vernal  Express,  Aug. 
13.  I900- 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— INTERVIEW  WITH  ED- 
ITOR CHARLES  W.  PENROSE. 

The  following  interview  is  copied  from  the  Nashville 
American,  being  one  of  several  letters  written  by  myself 
to  the  American  from  Salt  Lake  City. 

The  information  which  I  have  given  in  previous  letter's 
with  reference  to  Mormonism  I  obtained  from  all  sources 
available,  from  books  and  papers  and  people,  Mormon  and 
non-Mormon.  Desiring  an  authoritative  expression  in  re- 
gard to  these  matters,  I  sought  interviews  with  Charles 
W.  Penrose,  editor  of  the  Deseret  Evening  News,  the  of- 
ficial organ  of  the  Mormon  "Church,"  and  with  Lorenzo 
Snow,  president  of  the  "church." 

Mr.  Penrose  received  me  rather  suspiciously  at  first.  He 
said  that  there  seemed  to  be  quite  a  prejudice  in  the  South 
against  Mormons.  I  told  him  I  supposed  this  was  natural, 
but  that  I  had  come  to  Salt  Lake  City  with  a  commission 
from  the  editor  of  the  American  to  find  out  the  facts  about 
them.  He  spoke  kindly  of  the  American  and  agreed  to  the 
interview,  for  which  an  hour  in  the  afternoon  was  named. 

I  then  called  upon  President  Snow.  His  private  secre- 
tary, Mr.  Gibbs,  stated  that  he  was  very  busy  just  then,  but 
that  if  I  would  call  again  about  3  o'clock  he  thought  the 
president  would  consent  to  see  me,  though  Mr.  Gibbs  him- 
self eyed  me  quite  critically  and  said  that  President  Snow 
did  not  like  to  be  worried  with  interviews.  It  seems  that 
"Polly  Pry,"  of  the  Denver  News,  and  Dr.  Hepworth,  of 
the  New  York  Herald,  had  recently  interviewed  him,  and 

a36 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  237 

in  their  reports  of  the  interview  had  misrepresented  his 
views,  so  he  claimed,  though  they  would  claim,  I  presume, 
that  they  reported  it  as  it  occurred.  To  avoid  any  mis- 
representation, however,  I  proposed  to  bring  a  stenogra- 
pher with  me.  But  Mr.  Gibbs  said  that  this  would  be 
unnecessary. 

At  3  o'clock  I  knocked  again  at  the  office  of  the  first 
presidency  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints.  This  office  is  a  low,  long,  frame  building  situated 
between  the  famous  "Lion"  and  "Bee  Hive"  houses,  which 
were  the  homes  where  Brigham  Young  kept  most  of  his 
twenty-six  wives,  while  just  across  the  street  is  the 
"Amelia  Palace,"  where  his  favorite  wife,  Mrs.  Amelia 
Folsom  Young,  lived.  Mr.  Gibbs  again  met  me.  He  told 
me  that  President  Snow  was  still  busy,  but  asked  me  to 
wait  awhile  and  he  would  perhaps  see  me.  I  waited— 5, 
10,  15  minutes.  Mr.  Gibbs  came  out  of  the  inner  sanctum 
and  stated  that  he  had  telephoned  for  Mr.  Penrose  to 
come  over  and  introduce  me  to  President  Snow,  as  he  was 
better  acquainted  with  me  and  with  the  paper  I  repre- 
sented. 

In  a  short  time  Mr.  Penrose  came.  He  entered  the 
closed  door  into  the  majestic  presence  without  knocking. 
So  did  several  others,  among  them  Messrs.  George  Q. 
Cannon,  Angus  M.  Cannon  and  Brigham  Young,  Jr.  But 
they  we're  saints,  apostles,  presidents,  counselors,  etc.,  and 
so  privileged  characters. 

After  awhile,  though,  at  3  145,  the  door  opened  again 
and  Mr.  Penrose  smilingly  ushered  me  into  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts and  introduced  me  to  President  Snow,  who  received 
me  kindly.  He  is  a  man  about  85  years  of  age,  but  well 
preserved,  remarkably  so  considering  the  fact  that  he  has 
had  nine  wives,  five  of  whom  are  still  living.    This  remark 


238  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

is  especially  applicable  to  his  hair  and  beard,  which  are  full 
and  long.  I  suppose  all  married  men  will  wonder  how  he 
managed  to  keep  them  that  way  with  so  many  wives.  He 
is  tall  and  slim  and  courteous  in  his  bearing. 

I  began  the  conversation  by  stating  that  I  was  from 
Nashville;  that  the  Southern  propaganda  of  his  church 
was  located  in  Tennessee;  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
prejudice  in  the  South  against  the  Mormon  missionaries, 
in  which  I  confessed  that  I  shared,  but  that  the  Nashville 
American  had  asked  me  to  find  out  the  facts  about  Mor- 
monism,  especially  in  its  relation  to  the  Roberts  case, 
which  was  attracting  the  attention  of  the  country ;  that  I 
was  in  Salt  Lake  City  for  that  purpose,  and  that  I  had 
come  to  him  for  an  authoritative  expression  about  these 
matters. 

I  then  began  unrolling  some  paper  on  which  I  had 
written  a  number  of  questions. 

Just  then  he  called  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  who  was  about 
to  leave  the  room,  and  asked  me  to  excuse  him  a  moment. 
While  he  was  gone  Mr.  Penrose  asked  me  to  read  over 
some  of  my  questions  and  let  him  see  what  they  were.  I 
read  one  or  two.  President  Snow,  who  had  been  standing 
just  behind  me  talking  to  Apostle  Young,  then  came  up 
and  said  that  I  would  have  to  excuse  him,  and  he  would 
turn  me  over  to  Mr.  Penrose. 

I  said  to  him :  "I  know  Mr.  Penrose.  He  is  the  editor 
of  the  News,  but  he  is  not  the  president  of  the  Mormon 
Church.  I  have  come  to  you  because  I  wanted  to  come  to 
headquarters  and  get  an  authoritative  expression  with 
reference  to  various  questions  of  interest  to  our  people." 

He  replied  that  Mr.  Penrose  would  answer  the  ques- 
tions. I  asked  him  if  he  would  indorse  anything  Mr.  Pen- 
rose said.    He  answered  a  little  evasively,  but  left  the  im- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  239 

pression  that  he  would,  saying  Mr.  Penrose  was  a  very 
clever  man.  So  I  had  to  content  myself  with  interviewing 
Mr.  Penrose.  We  adjourned  to  his  office  near  by,  when 
the  following  interview  took  place.  I  took  down  his  an- 
swers at  the  time  and  read  each  answer  over  to  Mr.  Pen- 
rose before  asking  the  next  question.  I  publish  the  ques- 
tions and  answers  just  as  they  occurred.  Remember  that 
during  the  interview  Mr.  Penrose  was  acting  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  President  Snow. 

Question.  "The  Roberts  case  is  attracting  a  good  deal 
of  attention  over  the  country  just  now.  Do  you,  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints, 
of  which  he  is  a  member,  propose  to  stand  by  him  and  help 
him  in  any  way  to  retain  his  seat  in  Congress  ?" 

Answer.  "The  church  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Roberts,  and  is  not  doing  anything  in  relation 
to  his  defense.  He  was  the  candidate  of  a  political  party 
and  was  elected  by  the  votes  of  citizens,  receiving  a  ma- 
jority in  a  fully  contested  political  election.  The  church  is 
not  in  politics.  Its  members  are  divided  as  citizens  among 
the  various  political  parties  and  vote  independently,  ac- 
cording to  their  own  choice." 

"Does  not  Mr.  Roberts  admit  that  he  is  now  cohabiting 
with  three  wives  ?" 

Ans.  "He  admits  tacitly  that  he  has  three  wives,  but 
not  that  he  is  living  with  them." 

"What  about  the  famous  twins  born  to  Celia  Dibble 
Roberts,  Aug.  1 1,  1897?" 

Ans.  "All  I  know  is  what  I  see  in  the  papers.  It  is  the 
common  understanding  that  he  has  three  wives.  But  he 
says  that  he  married  his  wives  before  the  manifesto  of 
President  Woodruff  in  1890.  This  is  understood  to  be  the 
fact." 

"Do  you  believe  in  polygamy  as  a  principle?" 

Ans.    "In  the  general  acceptation  of  the  term,  I  do  not. 


24o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  accepted 
the  doctrine  of  celestial  marriage,  including  a  plurality  of 
wives,  as  revealed  to  Joseph  Smith.  This  required  the 
authorization  by  the  head  of  the  church,  who  alone  holds 
the  keys  of  that  authority  for  the  solemnization  of  a  plural 
marriage.  The  head  of  the  church  having  ceased  to  exer- 
cise that  authority,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  right  for  men  to 
practice  polygamy  or  plural  marriage  now.  The  constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  State  of  Utah  forbid  polygamous  mar- 
riages. It  is  a  dead  issue  and  there  is  no  occasion  to  offer 
any  reasons  why  it  was  once  practiced." 

"Do  you  believe  in  the  continued  polygamous  cohabita- 
tion of  those  who  took  their  polygamous  wives  before  the 
manifesto  of  President  Woodruff  in  1890?" 

Ans.  "Every  such  individual  must  answer  this  question 
for  himself.,, 

"To  secure  statehood  and  recover  your  escheated  prop- 
erty did  you  not  promise  that  polygamy  should  cease,  and 
that  'the  rightfulness  of  the  doctrine  of  polygamy  should 
not  be  inculcated  ?'  " 

Ans.    "No." 

"Did  you  not  on  the  witness  stand  interpret  the  mani- 
festo as  having  reference  to  unlawful  cohabitation?" 

Mr.  Penrose  declined  to  answer  the  question  for  Presi- 
dent Snow.  This,  he  said,  has  no  bearing  on  the  Roberts 
question. 

"Did  not  the  manifesto  advise  that  polygamy  should 
cease?  And  did  it  not  refer  to  polygamous  cohabitation  as 
well  as  to  new  polygamous  marriages  ?" 

Ans.  "The  manifesto  said :  'And  I  now  publicly  de- 
clare that  my  advice  to  the  Latter  Day  Saints  is  to  refrain 
from  contracting  any  marriage  forbidden  by  the  law  of 
the  land/  " 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  241 

"Do  you  think  it  right  for  a  man  to  continue  living  in 
unlawful  cohabitation  with  the  wives  he  has  already  mar- 
ried?" 

Ans.    "Every  man  must  answer  this  for  himself." 

"Was  not  this  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States  be- 
fore statehood,  e.  g.,  the  Edmunds  law  of  1882  and  the 
Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887?" 

Ans.    "Yes." 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  have  not  nearly  all  the  present  po- 
lygamous wives  been  taken  since  1882,  and  so  in  direct 
contravention  of  the  laws  of  the  government  ?" 

Ans.    "Certainly  not." 

"Is  not  this  true  of  Mr.  Roberts?" 

Ans.  "Personally,  I  do  not  know  anything  about  his 
family  affairs." 

"Has  not  this  law  against  polygamy  and  polygamous 
cohabitation  been  incorporated  into  the  laws  of  the  State 
of  Utah?" 

Ans.     "Yes." 

"Is  not  Mr.  Roberts  living  in  unlawful  cohabitation?" 

Ans.     "I  do  not  know." 

"Has  anything  been  done  with  him  about  it  by  the 
church?" 

Ans.  "Before  any  action  can  be  taken  by  the  church 
as  to  one  of  its  members  a  complaint  must  be  entered  by  a 
church  member.  No  charge  has  been  preferred  against 
Mr.  Roberts  that  I  am  aware  of." 

"Is  he  still  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter  Day  Saints,  in  good  standing  ?" 

Ans.     "Yes,  he  is." 

"Was  not  Angus  M.  Cannon,  President  of  the  Salt 
Lake  Stake,  recently  indicted  for  living  in  unlawful  co- 
habitation with  Senator  Mattie  Hughes  Cannon,  and  did 
he  not  plead  guilty?" 


242  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Ans.     "Yes."       ' 

"Has  he  been  censured  for  it  ?" 

Ans.  "Ask  President  Snow.  This  is  a  purely  church 
matter." 

"The  papers  stated  a  day  or  two  ago  that  Joseph  E. 
Taylor,  First  Counselor  of  the  Salt  Lake  Stake,  on  No- 
vember 13  pleaded  guilty  of  living  in  unlawful  cohabi- 
tation, and  was  on  November  22  fined  $150  therefor,  and 
that  he  refused  to  state  whether  he  would  continue  his  un- 
lawful cohabitation  in  the  future.  Will  he  be  punished 
in  any  way  by  the  church  authorities  ?" 

Ans.  "The  church  authorities  could  not  do  anything 
without  a  complaint  being  made.  If  a  man  breaks  the 
law  of  the  State  he  is  amenable  to  the  State  law.  If  he 
breaks  a  law  of  the  church,  a  proper  complaint  must  be 
made  before  a  proper  church  tribunal,  before  any  action 
can  be  taken,  and  that  is  a  church  matter  entirely.  It 
does  not  concern  anybody  else." 

"Have  there  been  any  instances  of  new  polygamous 
marriages  since  the  manifesto  ?" 

Ans.     "I  do  not  know  of  any." 

"Have  there  been  any  since  statehood  ?" 

Ans.     "Same  as  above." 

"What  about  Abram  H.  Cannon  and  Lilian  Hamblin?" 

Ans.  "I  don't  know  anything  about  them,  only  the 
rumors  that  I  have  heard." 

"Was  that  unlawful  cohabitation  ?" 

Ans.     "I  do  not  know." 

"What  about  Apostle  George  Teasdale,  of  Nephi,  and 
Marion  Scoles?" 

Ans.     "Let  him  answer  for  himself." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Penrose  grew  somewhat  excited,  not 
to  say  angry.    He  turned  red  in  the  face,  arose  from  his 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  243 

chair,  paced  up  and  down  the  floor  and  said  some  pretty 
severe  things,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  outrageous  to  be 
digging  up  old  scandals ;  that  no  decent  paper  would  care 
to  do  such  a  thing;  that  he  didn't  believe  the  American 
was  doing  it,  either,  but  that  those  questions  had  been 
prepared  in  the  office  of  the  Salt  Lake  Tribune,  and  that 
he  could  show  me  typewritten  copies  of  them.  I  laid 
down  my  pen  and  said  to  him  that  I  had  met  the  editor  of 
the  Tribune,  but  only  casually ;  that  the  questions  had  been 
prepared  by  myself,  and  that  they  related  to  matters  about 
which  our  people  would  like  to  know. 

There  were  some  other  questions  which  I  had  intended 
asking  President  Snow,  or  Mr.  Penrose,  as  his  repre- 
sentative, relating  chiefly  to  matters  of  doctrine,  but  as 
my  time  and  the  patience  of  Mr.  Penrose  both  were  about 
exhausted,  I  passed  over  them  and  asked  only  one  or  two 
others,  as  follows : 

"Do  you  believe  in  the  union  of  church  and  state?" 

Ans.  "The  church  has  always  been  separate  from  the 
state,  and  is  today." 

"Is  the  state  above  the  church  or  the  church  above  the 
state?" 

Ans.  "The  state  is  above  the  church  in  state  affairs. 
The  church  is  above  the  state  in  church  affairs,  but 
neither  has  the  right  to  interfere  with  the  other." 

"Do  you  believe  in  continued  revelation  ?" 

Ans.     "Yes." 

"Do  you  have  such  revelations  ?" 

Ans.  "The  man  who  stands  at  the  head  receives  reve- 
lations for  the  whole  church.  Each  individual  is  entitled 
to  receive  revelations  for  himself  or  herself,  also  to  a  wit- 
ness from  God  of  the  truth  of  the  revelation  that  may 
come  through  the  head  for  the  guidance  of  the  church." 


244  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"Have  you  published  any  revelations  ?" 

Ans.     "Do  not  know  of  any." 

Before  I  left,  Mr.  Penrose  said  he  hoped  that  I  would 
not  consider  anything  he  had  said  as  personal  to  myself. 
We  chatted  pleasantly  for  a  few  minutes,  shock  handst- 
and parted  in  good  humor. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— COMMENTS  ON  INTER- 
VIEW WITH  EDITOR  CHARLES  W.  PEN- 
ROSE. 

I  have  just  a  few  comments  to  make  upon  some  of  the 
answers  given  by  Mr.  Penrose  in  the  interview  published 
in  the  last  chapter. 

I.  It  certainly  sounded  strange  to  hear  Mr.  Penrose  say 
that  the  Mormon  church  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Roberts  in  view  of  the  following  facts,  some 
of  which  I  have  previously  mentioned,  (a)  Some  of  the 
most  prominent  Democrats  in  the  State  were  among  his 
strongest  opponents.  It  may  have  been  true  that  in  the 
election  some  Gentiles  voted  for  Mr.  Roberts  and  some 
Mormons  against  him,  but  as  his  opponent  was  also  a 
Mormon,  it  was  simply  a  choice  between  Mormons.  So 
far  as  I  could  tell,  it  seemed  to  be  true  that  almost  every 
Gentile  in  the  State  was  against  him,  and  almost  every 
Mormon  was  for  him.  (b)  The  Democratic  organ  of 
Utah,  the  Herald,  seemed  quite  indifferent  about  the  seat- 
ing of  Mr.  Roberts,  while  the  organ  of  the  Mormon 
church,  the  Deseret  Evening  News,  of  which  Mr.  Penrose 
is  editor,  was  the  recognized  champion  of  Mr.  Roberts  and 
defended  him  in  every  issue,  (c)  Several  years  ago  Mr. 
Roberts  and  Mr.  Moses  Thatcher  fell  out  with  the  church 
and  proclaimed  their  political  independence.  The  church 
authorities  issued  a  manifesto  against  them.  In  the  elec- 
tion which  followed  both  were  badly  defeated.  Mr.  Rob- 
erts had  a  revelation  in  which  his  dead  ancestors  besought 

*45 


246  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

him  earnestly  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  church,  and 
he  agreed  to  do  so.  Mr.  Thatcher  held  out  longer.  He 
was  waited  on  by  the  church  leaders,  and  as  he  still  re- 
mained stubborn  they  were  about  to  excommunicate  him, 
when  he  submitted.  The  church  authorities  announced 
that  no  one  should  run  for  office  without  their  consent, 
and  it  is  understood  that  no  Mormon  since  then  has  done 
so.  And  certainly  Mr.  Roberts  himself,  after  his  pre- 
vious experience,  did  not  do  so. 

2.  Mr.  Roberts  may  not  admit  that  he  is  living  with 
three  wives,  but  the  fact  that  one  of  his  plural  wives,  Celia 
Dibble  Roberts,  had  a  child  born  to  her  in  1895,  and  twins 
in  1897,  would  seem  to  indicate  it,  as  also  the  fact  that 
Dr.  Maggie  C.  Shipp  in  1897  assumed  the  name  of  Dr. 
Margaret  C.  Roberts  and  proclaimed  herself  the  wife  of 
Mr.  Roberts.  It  was  known  also  that  there  was  an  in- 
dictment pending  against  Mr.  Roberts  in  Utah  for  un- 
lawful cohabitation,  to  avoid  which  he  was  compelled  to 
leave  the  State  several  months  before  the  opening  of 
Congress. 

3.  If  Mr.  Roberts  did  marry  his  last  wife,  Dr.  Margaret 
C.  Shipp  Roberts,  before  the  manifesto  of  President 
Woodruff  in  1890,  it  is  certainly  a  little  curious  that  she 
did  not  assume  his  name  until  seven  years  afterwards. 
Besides,  it  is  beyond  question  that  he  married  both  of  his 
plural  wives  since  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of  1887  or  the 
Edmunds  law  of  1882,  and  this  is  what  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  concerned  about.  They  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  manifesto  of  President  Woodruff. 

4.  Mr.  Penrose  may  regard  polygamy  as  a  "dead  issue," 
but  when  there  are  1,543  men  in  Utah  living  in  polyga- 
mous cohabitation,  including  Mr.  Penrose  himself;  when 
there  have  been  several  undoubted  instances  of  new  polyg- 


ADAM'S  ENDOWMENT  GARMENT 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  247 

amous  marriages  recently;  when  those  who  have  en- 
gaged in  them  have  gone  unrebuked  by  the  church,  and 
when  an  acknowledged  polygamist  is  elected  to  Congress, 
it  doesn't  seem  to  the  people  of  this  country  such  a  dead 
issue. 

5.  When  Mr.  Penrose  gave  a  negative  answer  to  the 
question,  "To  secure  statehood  and  recover  your  escheated 
(property,  did  you  not  promise  that  polygamy  should  cease, 
and  that  the  rightfulness  of  the  doctrine  of  polygamy 
should  not  be  inculcated?"  he  was  evidently  speaking  only 
for  himself  at  that  time  and  not  for  President  Snow, 
whose  representative  he  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  inter- 
view. As  a  matter  of  fact,  President  Snow  did  make  such 
a  promise  on  the  witness  stand,  as  also  did  President 
Woodruff.  Their  language  was  taken  down  at  the  time 
and  I  can  quote  it  in  full  if  necessary,  as  also  their  lan- 
guage in  which  they  interpreted  the  manifesto  as  having 
reference  to  unlawful  cohabitation.  The  answer  of  Mr. 
Penrose  with  reference  to  the  manifesto  in  which  he 
simply  quoted  its  language  was  evidently  an  evasion. 

6.  Mr.  Penrose  is  quite  an  agnostic  with  reference  to 
the  affairs  of  Mr.  Roberts  and  others  understood  to  be 
living  in  polygamy.  In  fact,  he  is  most  too  ignorant  about 
affairs  which  are  matters  of  common  knowledge  to  every 
one  else  in  Utah.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  he  is  kept 
too  busy  with  his  onerous  duties  as  editor  of  the  News 
to  take  any  interest  in  such  matters. 

7.  It  may  be  true  that  it  is  necessary  for  someone  in 
the  church  to  make  a  complaint  against  anyone  before 
he  can  be  arraigned  for  church  discipline,  but  it  certainly 
seems  strange  that  Mr.  Roberts  and  Moses  Thatcher 
could  be  disciplined  for  declaring  their  political  independ- 
ence, while  such  men  as  Angus  M.  Cannon,  Heber  J. 


,248  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Grant,  Joseph  E.  Taylor  and  others  could  be  fined  for  liv- 
ing in  unlawful  cohabitation,  and  Apostle  George  Teas- 
dale  could  be  proven  beyond  doubt  guilty  of  a  new  polyga- 
mous marriage,  and  yet  no  one  in  all  the  church  could  be 
found  to  make  complaint  against  these  men.  These  facts 
only  prove  that  the  public  sentiment  of  the  Mormon 
church  is  so  strongly  against  anyone  declaring  his  political 
independence  of  the  church,  and  so  strongly  in  favor  of 
polygamy  and  polygamous  cohabitation,  that  complaint 
would  be  made  against  a  person  for  the  former  but  not 
for  the  latter  offense. 

8.  I  should  state  that  Mr.  Penrose  admitted  to  me  in 
our  conversation  just  before  I  left  that  there  had  been 
numerous  instances  of  polygamous  marriages  since  the 
Edmunds  law  of  1882  and  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law  of 
1887,  but  he  said  that  his  people  believed  that  these  laws 
were  unconstitutional,  on  the  ground  that  Congress  had 
no  right  to  interfere  with  the  religion  of  a  people,  and 
polygamy  was  a  part  of  their  religion,  but  that  as  soon 
as  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  declared  the 
law  constitutional,  then  President  Woodruff  issued  his 
manifesto  advising  his  people  to  refrain  from  polygamy. 
On  this  point  I  have  to  say:  (a)  President  Woodruff 
did  not  issue  his  manifesto  until  many  of  the  Apostles 
and  Bishops  and  other  church  authorities  had  been  put 
in  jail  for  violating  the  law,  and  not  until  the  church  prop- 
erty had  been  escheated  to  the  government  under  the  law. 
(b)  What  right  had  the  Mormons  to  assume  that  the 
law  would  be  declared  unconstitutional  and  go  on  violat- 
ing it?  Until  it  was  declared  unconstitutional  it  was  the 
law,  and  should  have  been  obeyed  by  every  law-abiding 
citizen,  (c)  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Supreme  Court 
had  already  declared  the  law  constitutional  in  the  case 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  249 

of  Reynolds  vs.  the  United  States.  This  decision  was 
rendered  January  4,  1879,  by  Chief  Justice  Waite,  and 
thoroughly  upheld  the  constitutionality  of  the  anti- 
polygamy  law  of  1862.  This  was  four  years  before  the 
Edmunds  law  was  passed  and  nine  years  before  the  Ed- 
munds-Tucker law  was  passed,  both  of  which  laws  were 
simply  amendments  to  the  law  of  1862,  and  twelve  years 
before  the  manifesto  of  President  Woodruff.  I  presume 
that  Mr.  Penrose  had  forgotten  about  this  case, 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— IMMORAL  RESULTS  OF 
POLYGAMY  —  FORCED  MARRIAGES  —  RE- 
MARKS OF  APOSTLE  JOHN  W.  TAYLOR— B. 
Y.  T.  CO.— Z.  C.  M.  I.— DANCING— SWEARING 
—STEALING— LYING. 

Mormonism  begins  in  literalism,  runs  into  materialism, 
and  degenerates  into  sensualism.  With  such  views  of  God 
and  heaven  and  marriage  as  held  by  Mormons,  what  would 
you  expect  their  social  life  to  be?  I  know  the  claim  is 
made  that  Mormonism  results  in  better  social  conditions 
than  other  religions.  Let  us  see  about  that.  The  Mor- 
mons contend  that  a  man  needs  more  than  one  woman,  and 
that  if  he  cannot  get  them  in  one  way  he  will  in  another. 
It  is  a  favorite  argument  of  theirs  to  point  to  the  houses 
of  ill  fame  in  our  eastern  cities,  and  claim  that  these  are 
the  outcome  of  the  principles  of  other  denominations, 
while  they  have  nothing  like  them  in  Utah.  But  they  for- 
get that  these  things  are  not  by  the  authority  and  under 
the  sanction  of  the  Christian  churches.  On  the  contrary, 
they  are  against  the  principles  of  these  churches,  while 
with  the  Mormons  their  polygamy  is  carried  on  under  the 
sanction  of  the  church,  and  it  becomes  an  ecclesiastical 
prostitution,  religious  adultery. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  does  polygamy  make  men  bet- 
ter? Does  Mormonism  result  in  better  social  conditions? 
I  made  a  special  study  of  this  point  while  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  and  here  are  some  facts  I  gathered  while  there. 
They  will  be  of  interest,  perhaps,  along  this  line,  though  I 

*5o 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  251 

feel  like  apologizing  to  my  readers  for  referring  to  them. 
The  Mormons  continually  emphasize  the  injunction  of 
the  Lord  to  our  first  parents  to  be  fruitful  and  multiply 
and  replenish  the  earth.    This  is  drummed  into  the  ears  of 
the  young  until  they  are  likely  to  get  the  impression  that 
this  is  the  first,  and  indeed  the  chief  duty  of  men  and 
women.    It  used  to  be  preached  constantly  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, but  it  is  not  heard  there  so  often  now.     But  it  is 
preached  in  their  ward  meetings,  and  is  generally  believed. 
I  heard  it  preached  at  a  ward  meeting.    All  children  have 
lovers.    Their  ideal  of  life  is  to  get  married  and  have  as 
many  children  as  possible.    The  result  is,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, that  with  their  minds  continually  turned  to  such 
things,  the  finer,  more  delicate  sensibilities  of  the  people, 
old  and  young,  are  broken  down.     "There  is  something 
about  this  Mormon  system  that  breaks  down  all  respect 
for  morality  and  purity  and  truthfulness,"  said  a  gentle- 
man to  me  in  Salt  Lake  City,  who  lias  lived  among  the 
Mormons  for  a  good  many  years. 

There  is  a  freedom  and  an  abandonment  of  speech  be- 
tween the  sexes  unknown  among  people  of  refinement  in 
the  east.  But  a  worse  result  than  that  is  that  there  is  often 
a  freedom  of  action  between  them. 

In  one  town  in  Utah  of  about  3,000  inhabitants,  seven- 
teen young  ladies  in  the  winter  of  '96-'97  were  compelled 
to  enter  the  marriage  relation  to  cover  up  their  dishonor. 
And  they  did  not  lose  their  standing,  either  in  society  or  in 
the  church.  In  some  instances  they  had  the  marriage  cere- 
mony at  home,  went  to  a  public  hall  and  had  a  dance,  drank 
liquor  and  went  home  about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning 
drunk.  In  another  town  of  about  the  same  size,  a  physi- 
cian stated  that  over  75  per  cent  of  the  marriages  of  the 
Mormon  young  women  were  forced.    In  one  county,  dur- 


252  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

ing  the  last  five  years  75  per  cent  of  the  marriages  were 
forced.  Two  Mormon  girls  in  a  certain  town  told  a  lady 
missionary  while  she  was  in  that  town  that  they  did  not 
know  of  any  marriage  which  had  occurred  there  for  two 
years  that  was  not  forced. 

I  can  give  the  names  of  my  informants,  and  places 
where  the  facts  are  said  to  have  taken  place,  if  necessary, 
but  I  withhold  them  to  save  any  possible  unpleasantness. 
Here  is  a  name,  however,  I  can  give,  and  which,  I  suppose, 
will  be  considered  good  authority:  Apostle  John  W. 
Taylor,  the  "Mouthpiece  of  God,"  whose  "voice  is  the 
voice  of  God,"  said  in  a  Mormon  conference  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, October  7,  1898,  as  reported  in  the  Salt  Lake  Tri- 
bune the  next  day,  that  he  had  heard  much  of  late  of  im- 
morality in  various  parts  of  the  state;  that  it  existed  in 
places  little  dreamed  of.  He  named  five  localities  and  said 
there  were  other  places  he  could  not  then  remember.  He 
had  heard,  he  said,  from  a  man  with  whom  he  had  recently 
talked  that  young  people  of  different  sexes  belonging  to 
the  Tabernacle  choir  (about  500  in  number)  had  gone  from 
choir  practice  together  to  a  lodging  house  whose  rooms 
were  kept  for  immoral  purposes.  Members  of  the  choir 
of  both  sexes,  he  said,  had  been  seen  in  places  at  times 
that  would  suggest  acts  of  immorality. 

The  remark  passed  unnoticed  at  the  time,  but  after  its 
publication  in  a  Gentile  paper  he  was  made  to  apologize  to 
the  choir.  This  he  did  by  saying  that  he  had  recently  had 
the  nerve  of  one  of  his  wisdom  teeth  exposed,  and  he 
would  be  obliged  to  go  to  the  dentist  and  have  it  extracted, 
"for  you  see,"  he  added,  "the  little  wisdom  I  have  had 
given  me  is  starting  to  decay."  Which  meant  to  say  that 
while  what  he  said  was  true,  he  had  no  business  saying 
it  so  publicly.     This  was  considered  sufficient  apology. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  253 

And  now  the  apostle  continues  to  preach  in  the  Tabernacle? 
and  the  choir  continues  to  sing  accompaniments  to  his  ser- 
mons as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Apostle  Taylor  also 
said  that  he  had  stood  on  a  street  corner  of  Salt  Lake  City 
recently  with  a  man  who  declared  that  nine  out  of  ten 
young  girls  who  passed  were  impure.  For  this  remark  he 
made  an  apology.  So  numerous  were  the  cases  of  young 
women  becoming  mothers  a  few  months  after  marriage 
that  the  matter  was  publicly  discussed  by  George  Q.  Can- 
non, first  counselor  to  the  president,  at  a  recent  general 
conference.  But  nothing,  so  far  as  I  learned,  was  ever 
done  about  it,  except  that  the  young  people  would,  per- 
haps, come  before  their  ward  meetings  and  say  they  were 
sorry. 

On  Commercial  street  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  a  large  build- 
ing with  the  initials  over  it,  "B.  Y.  T.  Co.,"  which  mean 
the  Brigham  Young  Trust  Co.,  property  of  the  Brigham 
Young  estate,  of  which  George  Q.  Cannon  is  president.  In 
this  building  there  is  a  gambling  saloon  on  one  side  and  a 
house  of  ill  fame  on  the  other.  When  attention  was  called 
to  these  facts  the  property  was  leased  to  an  agent  and  sub- 
let by  him.  But  the  gambling  saloon  and  the  house  of  ill 
fame  are  still  there.  In  the  Whittingham  block,  and  in 
the  Nauvoo  block,  both  on  First  South  street,  and  both 
belonging  to  the  Brigham  Young  Trust  Company,  there  is 
a  saloon  in  each  block.  It  is  said  that  there  are  altogether, 
on  the  whole  estate  of  Brigham  Young,  fourteen  saloons 
and  five  houses  of  prostitution.  The  Valley  hotel,  the 
property  of  President  Woodruff,  had  a  saloon  in  it  for 
many  years,  and  since  his  death  is  still  continued  in  the 
interest  of  the  family. 

Belonging  to  the  estate  was  a  house  which  would  rent 
for  $25  per  month  and  the  trustees  were  offered  $75  a 


254  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

month  for  its  use  as  a  house  of  prostitution.  They  asked 
the  heirs  about  it.  They  told  the  trustees  that  if  they  could 
rent  it  for  any  other  purpose  and  get  as  much  money  to 
do  so;  but  if  not,  to  rent  it  for  that  purpose.  It  is  so 
rented,  and  is  still  being  used  for  that  purpose. 

Thd  Kinsman  for  June,  1900,  a  magazine  published  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  says:  "To  tell  the  truth,  this  tendency 
toward  the  social  evil  is  a  thousand  times  greater  among 
the  people  who  have  been  testing  this  method  [polygamy] 
of  preventing  it  than  among  any  other  class  of  people  that 
I  have  ever  known.  The  houses  of  prostitution  in  Utah 
are  filling  up  with  Mormon  girls ;  and  we  are  supplying 
inmates  for  such  houses  for  all  the  surrounding  region  of 
country,  including  Idaho,  Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Nevada.  If  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  would  only  exercise  sufficient  religious 
toleration  to  permit  us  to  try  this  mode  of  prevention  for 
about  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Mormonism  would  exter- 
minate itself." 

Over  a  good  many  business  houses  in  Salt  Lake  City  is 
the  mysterious  sign,  Z.  C.  M.  I.,  accompanied  by  an  all 
seeing  eye,  and  the  inscription  "Holiness  to  the  Lord/' 
This  sign  means  "Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile  Institu- 
tion." Formerly  the  stores  belonged  to  the  "church"  and 
were  operated  by  it.  But  at  the  time  the  United  States 
government  was  confiscating  the  church  property  in  order 
to  enforce  the  law  against  polygamy,  these  stores  passed 
into  the  hands  of  prominent  Mormons,  and  most  of  them 
have  never  been  restored  to  the  "church."  But  the  Z.  C. 
M.  I.  drugstore  is  owned  by  the  "church,"  and  here  liquor 
is  sold,  a  liquor  license  having  been  taken  out  for  the  pur- 
pose. Occasionally  at  a  country  dance,  which  is  opened 
and  closed  by  prayer,  a  jug  of  whisky  plays  an  important 
part  in  the  jollification. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  255 

The  Mormon  apostles  used  to  preach  against  Garfield 
Beach  on  Salt  Lake  and  warn  their  people  against  it. 
They  then  opened  Salt  Air  Beach.  The  Salt  Air  Beach 
Company,  under  their  control,  rents  saloon  privileges  at 
Salt  Air  Pavilion  and  permits  whisky  selling  on  Sunday 
and  gambling  devices  to  flourish  there  for  the  reason,  it  is 
suggested,  that  these  whisky  earnings  increase  the  rental 
value  to  the  pious  owners.  The  selling  of  intoxicants  as 
a  beverage  recently  received  a  pulpit  indorsement  in  the 
Tabernacle.  There  are  other  things  I  heard  about  Salt  Air 
Beach  which  I  could  not  so  much  as  mention  here,  but 
which  if  true  stamp  it  as  one  of  the  vilest  places  in  this 
country. 

The  scenes  which  occurred  at  its  opening  on  May  30, 
1900,  were  described  in  the  daily  papers  as  most  disgrace- 
ful. Drunkenness  and  revelry  ran  riot:  Old  and  young, 
male  and  female,  were  drunk.  Fights  were  frequent.  A 
committee  from  the  Ministers'  Association  was  appointed 
to  see  President  Snow  and  "ask  that  the  privilege  of  sell- 
ing liquor  at  the  resort  be  done  away  with."  He  declined 
to  accede  to  their  request,  giving  among  other  reasons 
that  "there  are  honorable  people  who  go  there  expecting 
to  find  refreshments  of  all  kinds,  and  to  close  up  the  bar 
would  mean  the  loss  of  this  custom,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
profits."  (Salt  Lake  Herald,  June  5,  1900.)  This,  mind 
you,  is  from  the  "President  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints."  Certainly  they  are  very  latter  day 
saints. 

In  the  early  days  of  Mormonism,  Joseph  Smith  claimed 
to  have  received  the  following  revelation : 

"Behold,  it  is  said  in  my  laws,  or  forbidden,  to  get  in 
debt  to  thine  enemies  (the  Gentiles)  ;  but  behold,  it  is  not 
said,  at  any  time,  that  the  Lord  should  not  take  when  he 


256  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

please  and  pay  as  seemeth  to  him  good.  Wherefore,  as 
ye  are  agents,  and  ye  are  on  the  Lord's  errand,  and  what- 
soever ye  do  according  to  the  will  of  the  Lord  is  the 
Lord's  business,  and  he  has  sent  you  to  provide  for  his 
saints."  (xxx.  n.) 

In  accordance  with  this  revelation  (?)  the  "Saints"  did 
not  hesitate  to  take  anything  they  could  from  their  "ene- 
mies," the  Gentiles.  This  was  one  special  cause  of  the 
friction  between  them  and  their  neighbors  in  Missouri; 
Vilate  Kimball,  the  first  wife  of  Heber  C.  Kimball,  is 
reported  to  have  said :  "I  know  it  to  be  a  fact  that  our 
people  used  to  go  out  nights  for  the  purpose  of  stealing 
the  wash  from  the  lines  of  the  Gentiles  in  a  circuit  of 
twenty  miles  around  Nauvoo." 

W.  W.  Phelps,  a  prominent  Mormon,  once  remarked : 
"If  the  Mormons  had  behaved  like  other  people,  they 
would  never  have  been  driven  from  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri; but  they  stole,  robbed  and  plundered  from  all  their 
neighbors,  and  all  the  time." 

Nor  have  they  entirely  departed  from  the  commandment 
of  Joseph  Smith  in  the  above  revelation.  About  the  time 
I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City  a  granddaughter  of  Brigham 
Young  was  arrested  for  shoplifting.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  all  the  Mormon  people  will  steal.  By  no  means. 
As  a  rule,  they  are  honest  and  straightforward  in  busi- 
ness. But  their  founder  and  prophet  taught  the  privilege, 
if  I  may  not  say  the  duty,  of  stealing,  and  some  of  them 
follow  his  teachings. 

Dancing  is  a  common  amusement  with  the  Mormons. 
The  rear  end  of  their  meeting  houses  over  the  State  is 
fitted  up  with  a  stage  and  sliding  scenes  used  for  theatrical 
representation.  Every  few  weeks  they  turn  the  house 
into  a  dance  hall.    I  myself  heard  a  young  lady  Sunday- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  257 

school  teacher  at  a  ward  meeting  on  Sunday  night  an- 
nounce that  she  would  give  a  dance  to  her  Sunday-school 
on  the  following  Wednesday  night— they  have  no  prayer 
meetings  on  that  or  any  other  night.     Brigham  Young  - 
was  an  accomplished  dancer— not  very  graceful,  perhaps, 
but  very  experienced  in  the  art.    He  was  a  constant  par- 
ticipant in  the  dances,  especially  when  he  was  looking  out 
for  a  new  partner.    It  is  said  also  that  he  could  swear  like 
a  sailor  upon  occasion.    In  this  accomplishment,  as  in  the 
other,  he  has  many  imitators  among  the  Mormon  bishops 
and  elders,  as  well  as  laymen.    Nor  are  all  the  missionaries 
entirely  free  from  this  vice,  despite  their  sanctimonious 
looks.     In  fact,  it  is  said  to  be  quite  common  among  all 
classes  of  Mormons.    The  disgusting  habit  of  telling  foul 
jokes  is  a  common  one.    In  this  some  of  the  apostles  and 
high  dignitaries  are  said  to  be  very  proficient. 

Lying  has  been  reduced  to  a  fine  art  by  many  Mormons, 
especially  when  the  interests  of  their  religion  are  involved. 
Their  very  articles  of  faith,  misleading  as  they  are  in  al- 
most every  instance,  and  calculated  and  intended  to  be 
misleading,  are  an  illustration  of  this,  as  is  also  their  use 
of  the  word  polygamy.     In  fact,  word- juggling,  or  as  a 
recent  writer  has  called  it,  prestidigitation  with  the  truth 
for  the  purpose  of  deception,  has  become  quite  a  science 
with  them.     And  this  is  not  regarded  as  a  crime,  but 
rather  as  a  virtue.    Joseph  Smith  and  John  Taylor  could 
deny  the  existence  of  polygamy  at  a  time  when  they  were 
practicing  it.     I  have  never  heard  of  any  Mormon  con- 
demning them  for  it.     Instead  of  that  they  are  honored 
for  their  smartness.    George  Q.  Cannon  could  tell  a  cool, 
deliberate  lie,  and  be  rebuked  for  it  to  his  face.    But  he 
only  met  the  rebuke  with  a  smile,  and  no  Mormon  has 
ever  seemed  to  think  any  the  less  of  him  for  it.    At  any 


258  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

rate  he  is  still  the  first  counselor  to  the  President  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints. 

President  Rich  could  state  in  a  daily  paper  of  Chatta- 
nooga that  Mormonism  results  in  better  social  conditions 
than  other  religions,  when  the  exact  reverse  is  true,  as  I 
have  abundantly  shown,  only  he  did  not  suppose  that  any 
one  living  here  would  know  it.  But  as  that  was  done  in 
behalf  of  the  church,  it  was  all  right,  according  to  Mor- 
mon ethics. 

A  Mormon  woman,  on  the  witness  stand,  said  that  she 
was  the  mother  of  a  certain  young  woman,  that  her  daugh- 
ter was  married,  but  that  to  save  her  life  she  could  not 
tell  who  was  the  father  of  her  daughter's  child.  This 
was  either  a  severe  reflection  upon  her  daughter's  honor 
or  a  deliberate  lie.  It  was  the  latter.  When  reproached 
afterwards  for  thus  perjuring  herself,  she  replied  :  "I  did 
not  lie  to  my  God ;  I  lied  to  their  God."  And  thus  they 
justify  themselves.  And  they  are  right.  They  do  not  lie 
to  their  God,  but  they  do  lie  to  ours.  And  these  are  the 
people  who  are  sending  missionaries  to  us  to  teach  us  the 
principles  of  morality  and  religion !  And  this  is  the  com- 
mentary in  practical  life  upon  the  last  article  in  the  Mor- 
mon creed : 

"We  believe  in  being  honest,  true,  chaste,  benevolent, 
virtuous,  and  in  doing  good  to  all  men ;  indeed,  we  may 
say  that  we  follow  the  admonition  of  Paul,  we  believe 
all  things,  we  hope  all  things,  we  have  endured  many 
things,  and  hope  to  be  able  to  endure  all  things.  If  there 
is  anything  virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good  report  or  praise- 
worthy, we  seek  after  these  things." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM— TESTIMONY  OF  OTH- 
ERS—MR. SCOTT  ANDERSON— MR.  A.  T. 
SCHROEDER. 

The  information 'as  to  the  social  life  in  Utah,  which  I 
gave  in  the  last  chapter,  I  obtained  from  various  sources, 
all  good.  It  is  possible  that  in  some  instances  my  inform- 
ants were  mistaken.  But  where  there  was  such  a  general 
consensus  of  opinion  it  is  hardly  possible  that  they  were 
mistaken  in  every  instance.  Where  there  was  so  much 
smoke  there  must  have  been  some  fire. 

Lest  it  be  thought  that  I  was  perhaps  misinformed,  or 
that  I  have  exaggerated  what  I  heard,  I  give  a  few  ex- 
tracts from  some  Open  Letters,  published  as  editorials  in 
Living  Issues  of  Salt  Lake  City.  The  editor  of  Living 
Issues,  Mr.  Scott  Anderson,  is  a  highly  intelligent  gentle- 
man. He  was  converted  to  the  Mormon  faith  in  England, 
but  on  coming  to  Salt  Lake  City  he  found,  as  many  others 
have  done,  that  things  were  not  what  they  were  repre- 
sented to  be  abroad.  He  has  lived  in  Salt  Lake  City  for 
sixteen  years,  and  for  a  good  part  of  that  time  he  was 
affiliated  with  the  Mormon  Church.  But  he  is  intelligent 
enough  to  see  the  fraud  and  folly  and  vices  of  the  Mormon 
system,  and  he  determined  to  show  them  up,  as  he  did  in 
the  series  of  open  letters. 

In  Living  Issues  for  Dec.  i,  1899,  he  said  in  an  open 
letter  addressed  to  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints  (I  wish  I  had  space  to 
quote  it  in  full)  : 

*59 


2<5o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

"One  of  the  greatest  failings  and  evils  prevailing  in  our 
midst  is  Phariseeism.  Great  faults  and  grave  sins  are 
hidden,  cloaked,  covered  or  denied.  In  long  speeches  and 
prayers  the  declaration  is  made  that  we  are  not  as  other 
men.  This  is  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  when  any  one 
dares  to  doubt  it,  or  produce  facts  to  prove  the  contrary, 
he  or  she  is  liable  to  be  insulted. 

"Distilleries  and  breweries  were  established  (in  1847) 
and  while,  for  a  time,  the  licensed  saloon  was  not  present, 
drink  circulated  freely;  was  openly  sold  and  was  even 
paid  as  wages  to  the  laborer  and  mechanic. 

"One  detestable  vice  was  very  prevalent — the  indulgence 
in  filthy  and  obscene  talk.  If  there  is  one  thing  more 
than  another  that  degrades  a  man  below  the  beast  it  is 
this  practice.  Profanity  and  bad  language  were  also 
common.     . 

"After  fifty  years  of  Mormonism  in  this  valley  and  in 
these  mountains,  under  the  leadership  of  Prophets,  Seers 
and  Revelators,  what  has  been  done,  and  where  do  you 
stand  to-day?  Are  the  Mormons,  in  their  walk  and  con- 
versation, living  lives  superior  to  the  members  of  other 
churches  ?  Are  they  equal  to  them,  or  do  they  fall  below 
them?  So  far  as  our  observation  goes  they  have  fallen 
far  behind.  We  may  be  told  that  there  are  men  and 
women  (Mormons)  who  live  according  to  the  light  of  the 
gospel,  keep  the  word  of  wisdom  and  lead  pure  and  vir- 
tuous lives.  We  believe  it,  but  are  not  dealing  with  them. 
If  they  were  in  the  majority  or  even  a  very  large  minority 
of  the  church  we  would  keep  silent,  but  we  doubt  if  two 
per  cent  is  not  a  large  estimate  of  their  number.  What 
about  the  98  per  cent?  What  are  you  doing  with  them 
and  for  them  ?  How  many  Presidents  of  Stakes  and  their 
Counselors  drink,  smoke  and  use  bad  language?     How 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  261 

many  High  Counselors,  High  Priests,  Seventies  and  Eld- 
ers do  this  ?  Do  Bishops,  Superintendents  of  schools  and 
Teachers  do  this?  You  know  they  do,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising either,  considering  the  example  set  before 
.hem. 

"A  returned  missionary,  after  spending  two  years  in 
England,  returned  to  Bountiful;  speaking  in  the  taber- 
nacle of  that  city  he  testified  that  he  had  heard  more  bad 
language  in  Bountiful  in  one  day  that  he  had  heard  in 
England  in  two  years.  We  do  not  know  about  Bountiful, 
but  so  far  as  Salt  Lake  City  is  concerned,  from  infants 
barely  able  to  talk  up  to  men  of  90  the  vice  is  all  but  uni- 
versal, and  is  rarely  or  never  rebuked.  Of  course,  the 
swearers  are  not  all  Mormons,  by  any  means,  but  no 
other  church  in  the  city  allows  their  members  to  swear. 

"There  are  many  who  draw  the  line  at  blasphemy,  but 
use  every  other  objectionable  word  in  the  lexicon,  and  as 
for  filthy  talk,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  go  into  company 
without  finding  some  one  without  moral  sense  or  decency, 
seeking  eagerly  to  indulge  in  their  favorite  vice.  We 
know  several  in  high  places  who  do  this. 

"The  instances  in  which  brothers  (so-called)  have 
robbed  their  fellows  are  so  numerous  that  we  need  not  go 
into  them.  Mormons  in  this  respect  do  not  differ  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  only  that  they  profess  more.  To 
sum  the  whole  matter  up,  we  hold  that  Mormons  differ 
little  or  none  from  other  men,  only  they  more  closely  fol- 
low their  leaders — that  is  our  excuse  for  this  letter.,, 

Again,  in  an  open  letter  addressed  to  Angus  M.  Cannon, 
President  of  the  Salt  Lake  Stake  of  Zion,  he  said : 

"You  could  lay  your  finger  on  High  Priests,  Seventies 
and  Elders  who  are  to  be  found  in  gaming  hells ;  who  let 
their  premises  for  houses  of  ill-fame  and  for  saloons. 


262  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Some  of  them  even  run  saloons.  Drinking,  swearing  and 
bad  language  are  so  common  that  when  a  good  brother 
turns  up  who  abstains  from  all  these  he  is  a  curiosity  and 
a  marvel  You  could  tell,  if  you  would,  of  many  a  group 
of  big  officials  who  spend  hours  in  relating  obscene  and 
blue  stories.  Brigham  Young  was  living  when  you  were 
appointed  President  of  the  Stake.  You  knew  him  and 
were  familiar  with  his  property.  When  it  was  proposed 
to  let  his  property  for  saloons  you  were  silent.  When 
the  twenty-one  members  of  your  Stake  arranged  to  fur- 
nish a  grand  brothel  on  Commercial  street,  we  never 
heard  your  protest.  When  Ada  Wilson  sent  out  her 
beautiful  circulars  of  invitation  to  the  young  men  of  Zion 
to  come  to  her  gilded  palace  of  vice,  where  were  you? 
What  did  you  do?  In  the  twenty-three  years  of  your 
Presidency,  how  many  of  the  residents  of  this  fair  city 
have  joined  your  church?  You  could  almost  count  them 
on  your  fingers.  How  many  have  left  it?  Why,  tens  of 
thousands.  Among  those  who  left  you  were  some  of  the 
best  men  and  women  who  ever  joined  you.  Did  you  ever 
stop  to  think  of  that,  and  of  the  awful  gaps  made  in  the 
church?  Of  the  three  special  witnesses  to  the  Book  of 
Mormon  all  apostatized.  Of  the  first  quorum  of  the 
first  Presidency,  two  apostatized.  Of  the  first  Twelve 
Apostles,  seven  apostatized.  Of  the  first  seven  Presidents 
of  seventies,  four  apostatized.  Of  the  High  Priests, 
Bishops,  Seventies,  Elders  and  members  who  have  been 
excommunicated  or  withdrawn  there  must  have  been 
hundreds  of  thousands. 

"When  the  members  came  to  Utah  they  found  all  the 
great  leaders  engaged  in  two  things  to  such  an  extent  that 
there  was  no  room  for  spirituality.  What  were  these  two 
things?  Love  of  money  and  women — getting  gain  and 
having  a  lot  of  wives. 


BRIGHAM    YOUNGS    STATUE. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  263 

"President  Snow  relates,  in  the  Christmas  News,  that 
Joseph  Smith  told  him  in  1843  tnat  he  (Smith)  had  mar- 
ried Eliza  R.  Snow  for  time  and  eternity,  his  first  wife 
being  still  living.  What  was  the  world  and  the  church 
generally  told  at  that  time  by  Joseph  Smith  ?  Why,  this  : 
'Inasmuch  as  this  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-Day 
Saints  has  been  charged  with  the  crime  of  fornication  and 
polygamy,  we  declare  that  we  believe  that  one  man  should 
have  one  wife  and  one  woman  but  one  husband  except 
in  case  of  death,  when  either  is  at  liberty  to  marry  again/ 
This  declaration  was  printed  in  the  Book  of  Covenants 
and  taught  everywhere  as  the  doctrine  of  the  church. 

"You  have  the  reputation  of  being  a  coarse,  vulgar 
tyrant.  We  have  heard  Apostles  declare  that  you  were 
a  tyrant  unfit  for  so  high  an  office.  Have  you  no  sense  of 
shame  at  the  awful  condition  of  things  in  your  stake? 
How  far  from  wrong  was  Apostle  Taylor  when  discussing 
the  immorality  of  the  city  ?  We  lay  these  things  at  your 
door ;  having  power  to  do  good,  you  have  done  evil." 

And  in  another  letter  addressed  to  President  Cannon 
in  the  issue  of  Jan.  5,  1900,  Mr.  Anderson  said : 

"The  saloons,  gaming  hells  and  other  houses  of  sin  in 
Salt  Lake  are  five  times  as  numerous  as  your  meeting 
houses. 

"Sixteen  years  ago,  when  the  present  editor  of  Living 
Issues  came  to  Salt  Lake,  he  found  the  saloon,  the  gaming 
hell  and  the  brothel  in  full  swing.  At  that  time  no  non- 
Mormon  had  ever  been  in  the  city  council;  no  non- 
Mormon  had  ever  been  elected  to  the  legislature.  Where 
were  your  laws  against  these  vices  ?  Oh,  you  had  some ! 
Yes,  but  they  were  dead  letters.  You  had  been  President 
of  the  Stake  for  seven  years  and  practically  ruled  in  the 
city  and  county.  What  did  you  do?  and  what  are  you 
doing  now  ?" 


264  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Mr.  A.  T.  Shroeder,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Salt  Lake 
City,  has  a  strong  article  in  the  Kinsman  for  December, 
1899.  The  article  was  written  originally  for  the  Arena 
in  reply  to  an  article  published  in  that  magazine  in  defense 
of  the  Mormons.  After  a  severe  arraignment  of  them 
for  their  doctrine  of  blood  atonement,  he  says : 

"I  have  taken  more  than  a  little  pains  to  reproduce 
some  few  evidences  of  the  iniquity  of  Mormonism,  be- 
cause I  know  from  my  own  experience  how  loath  some 
people  are  to  believe  that  such  barbarism  should  in  this 
century  be  taught  in  the  name  of  religion. 

"I  am  now,  as  when  I  came  to  Utah,  outside  the  pale  of 
orthodox  Christianity.  I  knew  something  of  the  history 
of  its  past  bigotry  and  was  therefore  ready  to  believe  that 
every  improbable  anti-Mormon  tale  was  the  product  of  a 
diseased  intellect  produced  by  religious  fanaticism.  I 
refused  to  affiliate  with  the  Liberal  party  or  vote  its  ticket. 
I  made  myself  obnoxious  to  my  non-Mormon  friends  by 
my  Jack-Mormon  aggressiveness.  I  was  active  in  the 
attempt  to  break  up  the  Liberal  party  and  to  secure  Amer- 
ican politics  in  Utah.  I  started  my  investigation  with 
every  prejudice  in  its  favor  and  a  vague  hope  that  my 
study  of  Mormonism  would  furnish  me  with  some  new 
evidence  that  Christian  bigotry  had  maligned  a  God- 
fearing and  man-loving  people.  I  was  ready,  whenever 
some  good  Mormon  or  deceived  Gentile  denied  that  the 
doctrine  of  blood  atonement  had  ever  been  taught  in  the 
church  to  certify  to  the  correctness  of  his  'unprejudiced 
statement  of  facts/  just  as  the  editor  of  the  Arena  en- 
dorsed Mr.  Curtis.  //  /  am  not  now  in  the  same  frame 
of  mind  it  is  because  during  some  years  past  I  have  been 
spending  a  few  leisure  hours  in  studying  the  Mormon 
side  of  Mormonism,  and  have  found  that  they  justify  lying 
by  revelation."        , :w . , , .  v ... .,,^  , 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

AS  A  SOCIAL  SYSTEM—TESTIMONY  OF  OTH- 
ERS—DR.  WYL— STATISTICS— CHRISTIAN- 
SEN— SUMMING  UP. 

I  gave  in  the  last  chapter  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Scott 
Anderson,  an  ex-Mormon,  and  of  Mr.  A.  T.  Shroeder,  a 
prominent  non-Mormon  lawyer,  both  of  Salt  Lake  City, 
with  regard  to  Mormonism.  Lest  it  be  thought  that  they 
are  prejudiced,  I  give  some  extracts  from  a  book,  written 
by  a  German,  Dr.  W.  Wyl,  after  a  four  months'  study  of 
Mormonism  on  the  ground.  Dr.  Wyl  was  simply  a  lit- 
erary person,  who  had  no  prejudice  either  for  or  against 
the  Mormons.    In  his  introduction  he  says : 

"I  do  not  wish  to  insult  anybody  in  this  book,  or  to  hurt 
anybody's  feelings.  I  desire  to  do  my  simple  duty  as  a 
writer.  That  is  all ;  to  do  it  as  a  critic  and  observer,  hav- 
ing the  courage  of  my  opinions,  and  being  happily  free 
from  'all  entangling  alliances.'  " 

Again : 

"Such  teachings  find  many  believers,  who,  having  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  service  of  some  fancied  'Lord,' 
can  lie  and  perjure  themselves,  rob  and  butcher,  believing 
that  they  do  the  bidding  of  that  God  whom  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  taught  to  be  a  loving  father  to  all. 

"The  witnesses  whose  depositions  are  contained  in  my 
book  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  victims  of  a  great  de- 
lusion. The  Mormon  missionaries  told  them  in  Europe 
that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  had  been  restored ;  that  miracles 
of  all  kinds,  including  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  daily 

265 


266  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

revelations  of  the  Almighty,  and  scores  of  other  blessings 
would  be  given  to  the  faithful  followers  of  Joseph  Smith, 
the  great  Seer  and  Prophet;  that  here  in  Utah  was  the 
'home  of  the  pure* ;  a  paradise  of  innocence  and  goodness ; 
nothing  but  brotherly  love,  peace  and  fidelity;  that  this 
was  the  new  'Zion.'  But  when  they  came  here,  they  saw 
a  different  picture.  They  saw  that  Brigham  Young  was 
just  as  Joseph  Smith  had  been,  the  great  shark  and  that 
the  faithful  were  the  carp.  They  did  not  hear  any  more 
of  the  Bible,  as  they  had  heard  in  the  old  country;  in 
'Zion'  the  Gospel  was :  Pay  your  tithing,  obey  the  priest- 
hood in  all  things;  ask  never  any  questions,  but  do  as 
you  are  told;  take  more  wives,  and  if  you  have  only  a 
little  one-roomed  log  cabin,  never  mind,  take  wives  and 
build  up  the  Kingdom,  so  that  Brigham  Young  might  soon 
be  king  of  an  independent  State  of  the  Union ;  pay  your 
tithing  and  pay  besides  to  swell  all  kinds  of  donations; 
give  away  your  money ;  ask  never  for  an  account,  but  be 
happy  in  your  poverty,  while  the  High  Priesthood  are 
living  upon  the  fat  of  the  land.  Be  spied  upon  every 
day  in  your  actions  by  the  'teachers/  and  even  in  your 
thoughts,  and  be  a  spy  yourself  on  your  neighbor;  see 
whether  he  is  strong  in  the  faith,  and  if  he  is  not,  kill 
him — 'cut  his  throat  to  save  his  soul ;  that  is  the  way  to 
love  your  neighbor/  Hate  your  enemies — Tray  for 
them,'  as  Kimball  said  publicly ;  'yes,  that  God  may  damn 
and  destroy  them' — and  hate  all  that  are  not  of  your  clan. 
Hate  all  that  is  American,  and  swear  terrible  oaths,  in 
the  Endowment  House,  that  you  will  avenge  the  blood 
of  the  Prophet  on  this  nation.  To  make  it  short:  'You 
may  do  anything,  you  may  be  the  most  brutal  wretch,  you 
may  marry  twenty  wives  and  neglect  one  after  the  other, 
you  may  rob  and  even  kill  your  fellow-citizens   (non^ 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  267 

Mormons) — if  you  pay  and  obey  you  are  all  right;  so 
long  as  you  do  this  you  are  a  faithful  and  worthy  brother, 
and  sure  of  your  kingdom  and  eternal  glory  in  the  other 
world.'  Such  were  the  public  teachings  in  the  earlier 
times  of  the  Utah  theocracy.  Since  1870  the  talk  and 
practice  have  become  milder,  but  the  principles  are  still 
the  same. 

"How  could  this  tale,  told  to  me  a  hundred  times  over, 
fail  to  convince  me  that  this  whole  'religion'  was  a  specu- 
lation to  enrich  a  few,  give  them  gold,  power  and  all 
the  brute  pleasure  hidden  in  the  Greek  word  'polygamy.' ': 

In  the  body  of  the  book  Dr.  Wyl  says : 

"Mormonism  has  too  long  fooled  the  world,  the  new 
and  the  old.  It  has  too  long  claimed  immunity  as  a  're- 
ligion/ as  an  honest  religious  faith,  with  the  known  and 
long  established  facts  attending  its  original  fabrication 
and  its  appalling  development.  Is  it  not  indeed  puerile 
for  the  great  Government  of  the  United  States  to  still 
continue  tampering  and  temporizing  with  the  outrageous 
fraud  as  it  has  hitherto  done  ?  You  prattle  of  'polygamy* 
and  refuse  to  see  the  constant  rebellion  and  treason ;  you 
see  a  tree  and  are  blind  to  the  forest.  You  like  to  joke 
about  the  'old  monarchical  countries'  and  about  ironclad 
Prince  Bismarck.  But  I  tell  you  that  he  would  solve  the 
'Mormon  Problem'  in  a  week,  while  you  are  puzzled  by  it 
since  fifty  years.  He  would  not,  like  you,  stand  a  helpless 
babe  before  the  high  schools  of  treason  and  licentiousness, 
called  'Mormon  Temples'  He  would  bid  them  go,  those 
builders  of  the  Kingdom,  and  build  elsewhere. 

"But  the  Mormon  leaders  are  enemies  of  the  Mormon 
people,  enemies  of  the  United  States,  enemies  of  the  law, 
simply  because  they  do  not  want  to  be  disturbed  in  the 
piling  up  of  great  fortunes,  exercising  absolute  power  and 


268  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

lordship,  and  enjoying  the  embraces  of  as  many  'child- 
bearing'  (id  est  young  and  tender)  concubines  as  they 
have  a  mind  to." 

Again  he  says : 

"Let  it  be  remembered  forever  that  the  men  who  know 
all  the  facts  published  by  me,  and  more,  deny  them  daily 
as  'infamous  slanders,'  and  that  these  same  men  are  the 
leaders  of  this  abomination  called  a  'church'  by  its  illiter- 
ate dupes  only  and  by  the  overcultivated  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen of  the  East.  .  .  .  Mormonism  has  produced 
the  most  abject  slavery  ever  witnessed  in  the  history  of 
the  world." 

He  speaks  of  Mormonism  as  "a  system  invented  by  im- 
posters  and  carried  out  by  outlaws  all  the  way  through." 

With  reference  to  Joseph  Smith,  he  says : 

"J  could  not  find  a  bright  point,  an  extenuating  circum- 
stance, in  the  whole  life  of  the  great  imposter.  It  is  lie 
and  crime  all  through." 

Again  :  ''Joseph  was  a  wretched  imposter."  In  another 
place  he  calls  Joseph  an  "imposter,  law  breaker  and  con- 
spirator" 

Again  he  says  that  Joseph  was  a  "hell  of  a  fellow  with 
the  women."  Brigham  Young  he  characterized  as  a 
"born  bandit." 

Again  he  said : 

"Mormonism  gave  up  the  strictly  Scriptural  dodge  and 
turned  from  the  parody  of  Bible  to  a  travesty  of  Masonry, 
which  is  the  little  understood  key  of  Mormonism  in  its 
present  state.  'Mormonism  is  nothing  but  criminal  Ma- 
sonry' said  to  me  one  of  my  most  thoroughly  informed 
witnesses. 

"Lying  in  this  'church'  is  'hiding  pearls  from  the 
swine';  stealing  is  taking  as  the  Lord's  agents;  seducing 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  269 

other  people's  wives  is  exalting,  and  killing  people  is  sav- 
ing them" 

He  calls  the  leaders  of  the  church  "the  most  cunning 
rascals  on  earth,"  and  says  that  "those  smooth,  smiling, 
clean-shaven  gentlemen  were  liars."  He  declares  that 
"Morrnonism  is  nothing  but  the  Religious  Mafia  of  the 
United  States,"  and  asks: 

-Who  is  there  among  my  readers  who  does  not  feel  that 
all  this  infernal  humbug  is  nothing  but  a  conspiracy  of 
scoundrels  to  dupe  a  horde  of  fanatics  under  religious  pre- 
tense? To  make  them  give  up  every  cent  they  have,  and 
make  tools  of  them  for  all  sorts  of  criminal  purposes?" 

He  adds:  . 

"Yes,  Morrnonism  is  a  very  peculiar  religion,  it 
preaches  murder  as  a  religious  duty,  and  treats  the  mur- 
derer as  a  distinguished  member  of  the  'church.'  I  am 
not  joking.  Said  a  poor  Mormon  widow  to  me,  whose 
husband  was  killed  in  the  foulest  manner  imaginable  by 
the  police  of  this  holy  city:  They  bless  the  bread  and 
wine  in  the  tabernacle-there  is  half  a  dozen  of  murder- 
ers among  them ;  I  could  point  them  out  any  time.' 

And  again  he  speaks  of  "this  'church/  which  in  its  real 
essence  is  nothing  but  a  secret  criminal  conspiracy  for  the 
purpose  of  defying  the  laws  and ^  keeping  up  a  system 
radically  inimical  to  republican  institutions." 

I  could  give  other  quotations  from  Dr.  Wyl.  But  these 
are  sufficient. 

The  following  statistics  were  gathered  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Ministers'  Association  of  Salt  Lake  City.  The 
report  is  incomplete,  but  the  figures  give  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  the  work  in  Utah.  Number  of  Evangelical 
churches,  40;  present  membership,  3,220 ;  received  from 
Mormon  Church  and  families,  514—16  per  cent;    from 


27o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Mormon  sources  since  organization,  1,417—44  Per  cent 
In  Sunday-school  there  are  1,319  from  Mormon  fami- 
lies—  28  2-3  per  cent ;  in  schools,  1,048—61  per  cent. 

The  forty  churches  report  an  aggregate  loss  of  only 
nine  members  to  Mormonism,  "showing,"  the  report  says, 
"most  conclusively  that  Mormonism  is  wholly  without 
power  to  secure  converts  in  the  State  where  it  is  best 
known." 

In  the  forms  sent  out  the  following  questions  were 
asked :   "What  is  the  prevailing  practice  of  the  Mormon 
Church  in  your  community  with  reference  to:     I.    The 
observance  of  the  Sabbath?    2.   The  use  of  intoxicating 
liquor?     3.    Profanity?     4.    General  moral  condition?" 
These  questions  were  answered  in  only  about  one-half  of 
the  returns  made,  these  being  chiefly  from  the  smaller 
cities  and  rural  districts.     1.   As  to  Sabbath  observance. 
Five-sixths  of  the  reports  declare  that  the   Sabbath  is 
habitually  violated  by  the  common  people,  especially  in 
such  portions  of  the  day  as  are  not  set  apart  for  worship. 
Many  do  secular  work   and  the  young  people  make  the 
day  a  day  of  sport  and  pleasure.     2.    As  to  the  use  of 
liquor.    The  testimony  is  uniform  that  the  members  of  the 
dominant  faith  are  given  to  its  use,  many  drinking  to  ex- 
cess.   3.  As  to  profanity,  the  reports  concur  in  the  state- 
ment that  the  use  of  profane  language  is  general  among 
the  men,  and  many  of  the  women  and  children  also  are 
addicted  to  the  practice.    4.   As  to  general  morals,  it  is 
reported  that  in  addition  to  the  continuance  of  polyga- 
mous relations  by  many  of  the  leading  and  older  "saints," 
there  is  also  much  looseness  of  morals  among  the  young 
people,  that  many  marriages  are  forced  marriages,  and 
that  quite  generally  there  is  a  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech  and  practice  concerning  sexual  relations  unknown 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  271 

m  respectable  Gentile  communities  and  undreamed  of  in 
other  religious  circles  than  that  of  the  Mormon  faith. 
The  report  concludes :  "The  conditions  existing,  as  well 
as  the  result  of  Christian  effort  already  begun,  argue 
most  powerfully  for  increased  devotion  to  the  work  of 
Christianizing  and  civilizing  this  peculiar  form  of  heath- 
enism existing  in  the  midst  of  a  supposedly  Christian 
country." 

From  all  these  facts  you  will  see  that  there  is  very  little 
morality  and  absolutely  no  spirituality  in  the  Mormon 
religion.  The  truth  is  that  no  one  who  has  had  the  op- 
portunity of  observing  the  workings  of  Mormonism  has 
much  respect  for  it  as  a  religion.  It  is  making  almost  no 
converts  at  home,  where  it  is  best  known.  Nearly  all  of  its 
converts  come  from  abroad.  And  that  is  why  so  many 
missionaries  are  laboring  in  our  Southland  and  elsewhere. 
But  instead  of  gaining  converts  at  home,  it  is  continually 
losing  its  followers  there.  A  large  proportion  of  those 
who  become  Mormons  apostatize.  Brigham  Young  said 
five-sixths  did  so.  I  met  a  number  of  ex-Mormons  in 
Salt  Lake  City.  They  were  all  persons  of  much  intelli- 
gence. I  was  told  that  many  of  the  Mormon  young 
people  are  losing  their  sympathy  for  the  church.  When  I 
asked  what  was  the  reason  for  this,  the  answer  was :  "It 
can  be  expressed  in  three  words :  Broadening  of  intelli- 
gence." Judge  John  W.  Judd,  formerly  Associate  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Utah,  told  me  that  he  once  said 
to  a  young  Mormon :  "Christiansen,  I  want  to  ask  you  a 
question.  It  is  a  privileged  question,  and  you  can  answer 
it  or  not,  as  you  choose."  "Well,"  said  Christiansen, 
,"with  that  understanding,  Judge,  fire  away."  "What  do 
you  think  of  Mormonism  ?"  "Judge,  you  know  my  father 
and  mother  are  Mormons.    I  have  great  respect  for  them. 


2J2  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

But  I  tell  you,  I  think  the  whole  thing  is  a  d— d  fraud." 
"Well,  you  have  a  number  of  companions  about  your  age. 
What  do  they  think  of  it?"  "They  think  the  same  thing 
I  do."  And,  leaving  off  the  oath,  many  others  think  the 
same  thing. 

Understand  that  I  do  not  speak  now  of  the  Mormon 
people,  but  of  the  Mormon  system.  The  people,  as  a  rule, 
are  kind  and  clever,  but  poor,  ignorant,  misguided,  and 
utterly  subservient  to  the  priesthood.  Judge  C.  C.  Good- 
win said  in  Munsey's  Magazine  for  June,  1900:  "Mor- 
mon business  men  are  fair  and  honest  in  their  dealings,  but 
the  moment  that  anything  pertaining  to  their  faith  is 
touched  upon  a  great  many  of  them  have  no  scruples  in 
resenting  it.  They  will  deliver  testimony  in  court  which 
is  enough  to  make  the  flesh  creep.  I  once  asked  a  Mormon 
lady  how  such  perjury  could  be  reconciled  with  their 
consciences.  Her  answer  was:  'When  a  saint  has  been 
sealed  in  the  Temple,  his  or  her  soul  has  been  saved,  no 
matter  what  may  be  thereafter/  Still  the  Mormons,  when 
their  religion  is  not  involved,  are  a  friendly,  polite,  hos- 
pitable and  peaceable  people." 

True,  but  the  Mormon  system  as  a  system,  is  utterly 
bad,  as  I  have  shown.  The  truth  is  that  Mormonism  is  a 
combination,  or  rather  a  conglomeration,  of  the  literalism 
of  Campbellism,  the  materialism  of  Fetishism,  the  sensual- 
ism of  the  Phallic  worship,  or  Venus  worship,  the  polyg- 
amy of  Mohammedanism,  the  polytheism  of  Grecian 
Mythology,  the  theocracy  of  Judaism,  the  priestcraft  of 
Catholicism,  the  despotism  of  Jesuitism,  the  self-right- 
eousness of  Pharisaism,  the  transmigration  of  souls  of 
Buddhism,  the  cruelty  of  the  worship  of  Juggernaut,  the 
superstition  of  Confucianism,  the  degradation  of  women 
of  heathenism,  the  mystic  rites  of  Masonry,  the  hypno- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  273 

tism  of  mesmerism,  the  fanaticism  of  Dervishism,  the 
salvation  by  works  of  Socinianism,  the  sacerdotalism  of 
High  Church  Episcopalianism,  and  the  political  organ- 
ization of  Tammany  Hall. 

In  short,  it  has  borrowed  the  worst  features  of  all  re- 
ligions, and  all  creeds,  and  woven  them  into  a  conglomer- 
ate but  compact  mass  of  incongruous  absurdities.  It  was 
born  in  the  womb  of  imposture,  nursed  in  the  lap  of  fraud, 
rocked  in  the  cradle  of  deception,  clothed  in  the  garments 
of  superstition,  fed  on  the  milk  of  ignorance,  and  fattened 
on  the  strong  meat  of  sensualism,  despotism,  fanaticism, 
crime,  bloodshed  and  rebellion.  The  whole  system  is  a 
deification  of  lust,  a  glorification  of  sensualism,  religious 
adultery,  ecclesiastical  prostitution,  earthy,  sensual,  dev- 
ilish. It  is  the  Upas  tree  of  our  civilization,  the  octopus 
of  our  political  life,  a  travesty  on  the  name  of  religion,  a 
foul  blot  on  the  escutcheon  of  Christianity,  a  "hideous 
she  monster,"  as  its  name  implies.  It  is  un-Christian,  un- 
American,  a  colossal  fraud,  a  mammoth  sham,  a  gigantic 
humbug,  a  huge  farce,  which  would  be  comical  if  it  were 
not  so  tragical  in  its  results.  It  is  nothing  short  of  a 
shame  and  disgrace  and  an  insult  to  any  Christian  com- 
munity that  it  should  rear  its  slimy  head  in  that  commu- 
nity. 

There  are  four  things  which  hold  it  together,  ignorance, 
superstition,  sensualism  and  despotism.  But  before  the 
light  of  advancing  civilization  and  growing  intelligence 
these  are  receding,  and  one  of  two  things  is  certain : 
Either  Mormonism  must  change  materially,  or  it  is 
doomed  to  destruction.  It  is  changing.  It  has  changed 
considerably  since  the  railroad  and  the  telegraph  came 
to  Utah  and  brought  the  Mormon  people  into  contact  with 
the  outside  world,  thus  showing  them  the  falsity  of  many 


274  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

things  they  had  been  taught.  This  contact  has  served 
largely  to  drive  away  the  clouds  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition in.  which  they  were  involved,  and  to  loosen  the 
chains  of  sensualism  and  despotism  with  which  they  had 
been  bound.  But  not  all  the  clouds  and  not  all  the  chains 
are  gone.  Many  are  still  there.  Its  principles  still  re- 
main. The  question  comes,  Will  Mormonism  change 
sufficiently  to  save  it  from  destruction?  Can  it,  in  con- 
sistency with  its  essential  principles?  Is  there  enough 
of  the  salt  of  Christian  truth  in  it  to  act  as  an  antiseptic 
for  all  of  its  corruption,  and  preserve  it  from  decay  ?  May 
be  so,  but  I  think  not.  I  think  Mormonism  is  doomed, 
sooner  or  later — the  sooner  the  better. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

A  MENACE— TO  THE  HOME— TO  THE  CHRIS- 
TIAN RELIGION— TO  OUR  POLITICAL  IN- 
STITUTIONS. 

If  Mormonism  be  such  a  monstrous  system  as  we  have 
seen  it  to  be,  historically,  doctrinally  and  morally,  will  it 
not  sink  by  the  weight  of  its  own  iniquity,  and  if  so  how 
does  it  constitute  any  menace  to  our  American  institu- 
tions ?  In  what  respect  does  it  threaten  them  ? 

i.  In  the  first  place  it  is  a  menace  to  our  homes.  A 
home!  the  dwelling  place  of  the  husband  and  wife,  of 
father  and  mother  and  children,  of  brothers  and  sisters ; 
the  one  place  in  all  the  world  which  they  can  call  their 
own  and  where  they  may  feel  free  from  all  restraints ;  the 
place  hallowed  by  love  and  made  dear  by  tenderest  ties, 
and  around  which  our  fondest  memories  cluster ;  a  sweet, 
a  pure,  a  modest  Christian  home — "be  it  ever  so  humble, 
there's  no  place  like  home."  On  such  a  home  God's 
brightest  smiles  are  thrown  and  his  richest  benedictions 
rest.  In  such  a  home  "Heaven  comes  down  our  souls  to 
greet,"  and  around  it  guardian  angels  hover.  Such  a 
home  is  the  foundation  of  all  good  government,  the  bul- 
wark of  society,  the  Gibraltar  of  our  civilization,  the 
haven  of  rest  for  souls  weary  with  worldly  cares,  the 
plant-bed  of  religion,  the  nursery  of  all  that  is  noblest  and 
truest  in  our  natures,  the  very  Gettysburg  of  our  history, 
the  battle  ground  on  which  our  life's  destiny  is  fought 
and  decided,  and  on  whose  momentous  issues  eternal  in- 
terests are  hung. 

*75 


276  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Mormons  have  no  homes. 
But  under  their  system  of  polygamy — which,  as  I  have 
shown  they  believe  in,  and  which  is  a  part,  an  important, 
almost  an  essential  part  of  their  religion — the  home  is 
robbed  of  much  of  its  significance  and  happiness.  The 
wife  is  simply  a  woman,  and  the  home  is  transformed  into 
a  barnyard,  or  into  an  assignation  house.  All  of  the  ten- 
derer, more  delicate  feelings  which  should  exist  between 
husband  and  wife — the  mutual  sympathy  and  dependence, 
the  intimate  relations  which  make  each  an  essential  part 
of  the  other — are  necessarily  broken  down  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  when  there  are  several  to  share  the  hus- 
band's affections. 

Nor  is  the  home  the  same  to  the  children.  The  father 
is  almost  a  stranger  to  them.  They  do  not  have  the  same 
love  for  the  home,  and  the  home  does  not  exert  the  same 
influence  over  them  as  is  the  case  when  there  is  just  one 
family,  composed  of  father  and  mother  and  children. 
And  so  Mormonism  constitutes  a  menace  to  the  home. 
And  as  long  as  it  continues  its  belief  in  and  practice  of 
polygamy — which  is  likely  to  be  as  long  as  it  exists — it 
will  be  as  much  a  blot  upon  our  social  system  as  ever 
slavery  was.  As  it  was  with  slavery,  so  shall  it  be  with 
Mormonism,  sooner  or  later — it  must  be  either  mended 
or  ended,  and  like  slavery  the  best  way  to  mend  it  is  to 
end  it. 

2.  It  constitutes  a  menace  to  the  Christian  religion.  It 
is  not  only  un-Christian,  but  anti-Christian.  It  does  not 
regard  any  one  as  saved  outside  of  its  own  pale.  It  aims 
at  breaking  down  all  Christian  denominations  and  creeds, 
but  is  itself  subversive  of  the  principles  of  Christianity. 
It  is  another  and  very  different  gospel  which  it  preaches 
from  that  of  salvation  by  grace  through  faith  in  Jesus 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  277 

Christ     Paul  had  never  heard  of  Mormonism,  of  course, 
but  he  described  it  pretty  accurately  when  he    wrote  to 
the  Galatians:    "I  marvel  that  ye  are  so  soon  removed 
from  him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of  Christ  unto 
another  gospel:   which  is  not  another ;  but  there  be  some 
that  trouble  you,  and  would  pervert  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any 
other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached 
unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed.    As  we  said  before,  so  say 
I  now  again,  If  any  man  preach  any  other  gospel  unto 
you  than  that  ye  have  received,  let  him  be  accursed 
"( Gal  i  6-9  )     It  sounds  also  as  if  Paul  was  talking  about 
Mormons  when  he  said  to  Timothy:   "This  know  also, 
that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come.    For  men 
shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters, 
proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful, 
unholy,  without  natural  affection,  truce-breakers,  false 
accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are 
good,  traitors,  heady,  highminded,  lovers  of  pleasures 
more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form  of  godliness,  but 
denying  the  power  thereof;   from  such  turn  away     For 
of  this  sort  are  they  which  creep  into  houses,  and  lead 
captive  silly  women  laden  with  sins,  led  away  with  divers 
lusts,  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth.    Now  as  Jannes  and  Jambres  withstood 
Moses,  so  do  these  also  resist  the  truth;   men  of  corrupt 
minds,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith."     (2  Tim.  .11.  1-8.) 
Jude  must  certainly  have  been  thinking  about  Mormon 
elders  when  he  wrote:   "For  there  are  certain  men  crept 
in  unawares,  who  were  before  of  old  ordained  to  this 
condemnation,  ungodly  men,  turning  the  grace  of  our 
God  into  lasciviousness,  and  denying  the  only  Lord  God, 
and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."    (Jude  4.)   And  to  whom  are 


278  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  words  of  John  so  appropriate  as  to  Mormon  elders : 
"Whosoever  transgresseth  and  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  hath  not  God.  He  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  he  hath  both  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If  there 
come  any  unto  you,  and  bring  not  this  doctrine,  receive 
him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid  him  God  speed :  for 
he  that  biddeth  him  God  speed  is  partaker  of  his  evil 
deeds."  (2  John  9-1 1.)  I  did  not  say  that.  The  kind, 
the  gentle,  the  loving,  the  beloved  John  said  it.  And  he 
was  talking  about  Mormon  elders  when  he  said  it. 

The  Mormon  elders  have  three  objects  in  view  as  they 
go  through  the  country.  (1)  To  undermine  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  substitute  their  semi-heathenism  in  its 
place.  (2)  To  convert  all  the  men  they  can  so  as  to  get 
their  money  and  their  votes.  (3)  To  convert  all  the 
women  they  can  for  their  wives. 

As  I  have  shown,  they  are  making  no  converts  at  home, 
either  among  the  men  or  the  women,  and  so  they  must 
gain  converts  abroad  or  they  will  soon  perish.  I  do  not 
believe  in  hanging  or  shooting  or  rotten-egging  these 
elders.  In  the  first  place  it  is  not  right,  and  in  the  second 
place  it  gives  them  the  opportunity  to  cry  persecution, 
which  they  love  to  do. 

But  I  do  not  believe  that  we  are  called  upon  to  receive 
them  into  our  homes  and  support  them  while  they  are 
trying  to  subvert  our  religion  and  pervert  our  family.  If 
they  must  engage  in  such  work,  let  their  friends  at  least 
support  them  while  they  are  doing  so.  When  we  enter- 
tain them,  we  may  find  too  late  that  like  the  farmer  in 
Aesop's  fable,  we  had  been  nursing  a  viper  which  re- 
warded our  hospitality  by  striking  its  fangs  into  our 
bosom.  I  have  heard  of  several  instances  of  the  kind 
recently.    In  an  article  on  Mormonism  in  his  book,  "Some 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  279 

Latter  Day  Religions,"  Mr.  George  Hamilton  Combs 
says :  "What  should  be  our  attitude  toward  this  ism,  and 
what  should  be  done  to  meet  its  insidious  political  en- 
croachments ? 

"After  even  an  outline  consideration  of  its  doctrines — 
untrue,  coarse,  immoral— the  first  part  of  the  question  is 
easily  answered :  that  of  uncompromising  hostility.  Other 
isms  may  be  treated  with  tolerance ;  this  blasphemy  only 
as  an  enemy.  Let  it  be  war  to  the  hilt  and  no  quarter. 
This  abortion  is  an  enemy  to  our  civilization.  It  is  not 
to  be  temporized  with.  Let  us  do  battle.  Smite,  smite, 
smite !    The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon." 

3.  Mormonism  constitutes  a  menace  to  our  political 
institutions.  As  I  have  had  occasion  to  say  so  much  upon 
this  point  in  previous  chapters,  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
it  at  length  here.    But  something  needs  to  be  said  upon  it. 

I  said  that  no  one  who  knows  it  has  much  respect  for 
Mormonism  as  a  religious  system.  But  every  one  has  a 
great  deal  of  respect  for  it  as  a  political  system.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  it  is  much  more  of  a  political  system  than 
a  religious  system.  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  Mr.  R.  L.  Hart  declares  the  Mormon  Church 
to  be  a  "perfectly  conscienceless  political  machine,  abso- 
lutely accurate  in  its  every  movement,  strong  as  Tam- 
many and  twice  as  treasonable,  and  that  it  is  at  once  a 
religion,  an  empire,  a  fraternity,  a  trust  and  a  partnership 
in  crime."    And  so  it  is. 

The  members  of  the  Mormon  Church  vote  as  completely 
at  the  dictation  of  their  leaders  as  do  the  members  of  Tam- 
many Hall  at  the  dictation  of  their  leaders.  They  do  not 
all  vote  the  same  ticket  now,  it  is  true.  They  used  to  do 
so.  But  the  leaders  concluded  that  this  was  bad  politics, 
as  it  made  the  issue  of  Mormon  and  anti-Mormon  too 


28o  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

plain.  And  so  the  Mormon  people  divided  between  the 
two  political  parties.  But  the  leaders  hold  the  balance  of 
power,  and  they  always  see  to  it  that  there  are  enough 
votes  to  elect  the  man  they  want  elected.  Woe  to  the 
Mormon  who  dares  to  act  independently  of  the  dictation 
of  the  junta  in  the  Mormon  headquarters.  He  is  imme- 
diately made  to  feel  the  weight  of  the  Mormon  heel  upon 
his  neck.  The  machine  moves  rapidly  and  it  cuts  sharply. 
Few  can  resist  it.  Moses  Thatcher  tried  it,  and  so  did 
Brigham  H.  Roberts  several  years  ago.  But  it  was  not 
long  before  both  were  compelled  to  yield.  It  is  either 
absolute  obedience  or  excommunication. 

The  Mormon  priesthood  claim  the  right  of  control 
politically  as  well  as  religiously.  Mr.  Roberts  says  that 
they  "who  hold  the  priesthood  possess  divine  authority 
thus  to  act  for  God;  and  by  possessing  part  of  God's, 
power  they  are  in  reality  part  of  God  .  .  .  and 
men  who  honor  the  priesthood  in  them  honor 
God,  and  those  who  reject  it  reject  God."  George  Q. 
Cannon  said  in  a  sermon  in  the  Tabernacle,  April  5,  1897 : 
"I  would  just  as  soon  think  of  heaven  entering  into  chaos 
and  of  the  throne  of  God  being  shaken  to  its  foundation 
as  to  think  that  the  priesthood  of  the  Son  of  God  had  gone 
wrong  in  its  authority  or  that  the  Lord  would  permit  such 
a  thing.  .  .  .  It  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  fight  against 
or  in  any  manner  oppose  the  priesthood."  Moses  Thatcher 
and  Brigham  Roberts  evidently  found  it  so.  President 
Gowans  said :  "Their  priesthood  gives  them  the  right  to 
advise  and  instruct  the  Saints,  and  their  jurisdiction  ex- 
tends over  all  things,  spiritual  or  temporal."  Brigham 
Young  claimed  the  right  to  control  everything,  "from  the 
setting  up  of  a  stocking  to  the  ribbons  on  a  woman's 
bonnet." 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  281 

Theocracy,  the  claim  that  God  governs  the  church 
through  its  president,  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Mormon  creed.  Necessarily  this  brings  it  into  conflict 
with  republican  institutions.  In  studying  the  history  of 
Mormonism  we  have  seen  how  often  this  conflict  resulted 
in  quarrels,  rows,  bloodshed  and  sometimes  open  rebellion. 
Mormonism  aims  at  nothing  less  than  the  entire  control 
of  this  government. 

In  1880  Bishop  Lunt  said :  "Like  a  grain  of  mustard- 
seed  was  the  truth  planted  in  Zion ;  and  it  is  destined  to 
spread  through  all  the  world.  Our  church  has  been  or- 
ganized only  fifty  years,  and  yet  behold  its  wealth  and 
power.  This  is  our  year  of  jubilee.  We  look  forward 
with  perfect  confidence  to  the  day  when  we  will  hold  the 
reins  of  the  United  States  Government.  That  is  our  pres- 
ent temporal  aim;  after  that  we  expect  to  control  the 
continent."  When  told  that  such  a  scheme  seemed  rather 
visionary,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Utah  could  not  gain 
recognition  as  a  State,  Bishop  Lunt  replied :  "Do  not  be 
deceived;  we  are  looking  after  that.  .  .  .  We  in- 
tend to  have  Utah  recognized  as  a  State.  Today  we 
Jiold  the  balance  of  political  power  in  Idaho,  we  rule  Utah 
absolutely,  and'in  a  very  short  time  we  will  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  political  power  in  Arizona  and  Wyoming.  A  few 
months  ago,  President  Snow  of  St.  George  set  out  with 
a  band  of  priests  for  an  extensive  tour  through  Colorado, 
New  Mexico,  Wyoming,  Montana,  Idaho  and  Arizona 
to  proselyte.  We  also  expect  to  send  missionaries  to 
some  parts  of  Nevada,  and  we  design  to  plant  colonies  in 
Washington  Territory. 

"In  the  past  six  months  we  have  sent  more  than  3,000 
of  our  people  down  through  the  Sevier  Valley  to  settle  in 
Arizona,  and  the  movement  still  progresses.     All  this 


282  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

will  build  up  for  us  a  political  power,  which  will  in  time 
compel  the  homage  of  the  demagogues  of  the  country. 
Our  vote  is  solid,  and  will  remain  so.  It  will  be  thrown 
where  the  most  good  will  be  accomplished  for  the  church. 
Then,  in  some  political  crisis,  the  two  present  political 
parties  will  bid  for  our  support.  Utah  will  then  be  ad- 
mitted as  a  polygamous  State,  and  the  other  territories  we 
have  peacefully  subjugated  will  be  admitted  also.  We 
will  then  hold  the  balance  of  power,  and  will  dictate  to 
the  country.  In  time  our  principles,  which  are  of  sacred 
origin,  will  spread  throughout  the  United  States.  We 
possess  the  ability  to  turn  the  political  scale  in  any  par- 
ticular community  we  desire.  Our  people  are  obedient. 
When  they  are  called  by  the  church  they  promptly  obey. 
They  sell  their  houses,  lands  and  stock,  and  remove  to 
any  part  of  the  country  the  church  may  direct  them  to. 
You  can  imagine  the  results  which  wisdom  may  bring 
about  with  the  assistance  of  a  church  organization  like 
ours." 

As  a  result  of  such  absolute  political  despotism,  the 
Mormon  Church  now  controls  Utah  completely,  virtually 
controls  Idaho,  Wyoming  and  Arizona  and  is  aiming  for 
the  balance  of  power  in  other  States  in  the  West.  Presi- 
dent Woodruff  declared  that  men  of  to-day  would  live 
to  see  every  State  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  under 
Mormon  control.  And  then  this  octopus  will  reach  out  its 
long,  slimy  tentacles  to  grasp  hold  of  the  Eastern  and 
Southern  States,  using  its  favorite  method  of  holding  and 
wielding  the  balance  of  power.  And  finally  it  will  seek 
to  lay  its  foul  hand  even  upon  the  White  House.  I  have 
mentioned  before  the  fact,  which  is  not  generally  known, 
that  in  1844  Joseph  Smith  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency against  Polk  and  Clay,  and  Mormon  elders  were 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  283 

sent  over  the  country  to  electioneer  for  him.  He  was  not 
elected,  one  reason  being  that  he  was  killed  before  the 
election  came  off.  But  if  the  Mormon  program  could  be 
carried  out,  what  is  to  prevent  a  Mormon  from  occupying 
the  White  House  some  day  ?  That  such  will  ever  be  the 
case  I  do  not  believe,  but  the  fault  will  be  not  with  the 
Mormons,  but  with  the  American  people.  And  yet  the 
best  time  to  crush  despotism  is  in  its  incipiency.  "Resist 
the  beginnings,"  is  an  old  and  ever  true  maxim.  Com- 
menting on  Bishoo  Lunt's  claims,  Mr.  George  Hamilton 
Combs  says : 

"This  may  seem  but  an  empty  boast,  but  far-reaching 
and  systematic  schemes  of  colonization  in  the  West  when 
carried  out  will  make  the  Mormon  vote — a  vote,  never  let 
it  be  forgotten,  that  can  be  cast  as  one  man's — a  prize  for 
which  great  political  parties  will  eagerly  bid,  and  thus 
make  possible  the  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy.  Let  the 
people  awake  to  the  magnitude  of  this  power.  Eternal 
vigilance  is  the  price  of  our  liberty's  preservation.  Mor- 
mon schemes  must  be  exposed,  Mormon  diplomacy  coun- 
teracted by  an  outraged  public  sentiment,  Mormon  cun- 
ning met  and  mastered  by  the  wisdom  of  a  Christian 
statesmanship.  If  this  power  shall  pit  itself  further 
against  our  institutions,  let  it  be  crushed  into  powder. 
Let  Christian  sentinels  be  ever  alert,  and,  at  slightest  hint 
of  Mormon  encroachment,  sound  the  tocsin  of  war." 

The  exclusion  of  Brigham  H.  Roberts  from  the  House 
of  Representatives  has  done  much  to  check  the  pretensions 
of  Mormonism.  It  has  inspired  Mormons  with  a  more 
wholesome  respect  for  public  sentiment.  But  the  mon- 
ster is  only  scotched,  not  killed.  You  may  be  sure  that 
he  will  raise  his  head  again.  More  needs  to  be  done.  Let 
the  anti-polygamy  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 


284  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

United  States,  now  pending,  be  passed  by  Congress. 
This  will  do  more  than  any  other  one  thing  to  give  a 
death  blow  to  Mormonism.  And  then  let  Utah  and  the 
surrounding  States  be  peopled  by  good,  intelligent,  law- 
abiding  Christian  citizens.  This  will  keep  down  Mor- 
mon supremacy,  with  its  attendant  despotism ;  and  will 
also  leaven  the  lump  of  Mormonism  with  American  and 
Christian  principles.  And  after  a  while  the  whole  lump 
shall  be  leavened,  and  this  foul  blot  upon  our  civilization 
shall  be  known  only  as  a  horrid  nightmare  of  the  past — 
this  "hideous  she  monster"  shall  retire  to  the  black  caverns 
of  hell  from  which  she  came. 
G«d  grant  it  may  be  so! 


APPENDIX  A. 

OBSERVATIONS  AND  EXPERIENCES  IN   SALT 
LAKE  CITY. 

Some  of  my  observations  and  experiences  in  Salt  Lake 
City  may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  and  will  also  serve 
to  throw  considerable  side  lights  upon  the  subject  of 
Mormonism. 

"Salt  Lake  City.  All  out  for  Salt  Lake  City."  Here 
I  am  at  last  in  the  city  of  which  I  have  read  so  much, 
especially  in  recent  months,  and  which  is  the  objective 
point  of  my  trip  West.  I  must  confess  that  I  was  consid- 
erably disappointed  in  it  at  first  sight.  I  had  expected 
to  see  a  city  of  from  100,000  to  200,000  inhabitants,  and 
one  of  the  prettiest  cities  in  the  country.  Instead,  it  has 
only  about  60,000  inhabitants.  These  are  nearly  evenly 
divided  between  the  Mormons  and  the  Gentiles.  In  the 
city  election  which  occurred  just  before  I  reached  there 
the  city  was  carried  by  the  Gentiles  by  a  few  hundred 
majority.  They  had  the  assistance,  however,  it  should 
be  said,  of  the  "Jack  Mormons,"  as  they  are  called,  which 
means  either  those  who  have  apostatized  from  the  Mor- 
mon faith,  or  who  do  not  cling  to  it  very  closely. 

The  first  thing  that  attracted  my  attention  as  I  got  off 
the  train  and  started  up  town  in  the  bus  was  the  muddy 
streets.  There  seemed  to  be  mud,  mud  everywhere — 
very  appropriate,  I  thought,  for  the  city  of  the  Mormons. 
Some  of  the  streets,  however,  are  nicely  paved  with 
asphaltum,  but  I  was  told  that  when  the  Liberals,  as  they 
were  called,  or  the  Gentiles,  got  control  of  the  city  in  1890 
there  were  no  pavements  at  all.    And  yet  the  Mormons 

285 


286  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

boast  of  what  they  have  done  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  how 
they  have  made  the  desert  to  blossom  as  a  rose.  The  streets 
are  broad.  They  were  laid  off  by  Brigham  Young,  and  as 
a  rule  are  132  feet  wide  from  wall  to  wall.  They  are 
lined  on  either  side  with  rows  of  Lombardy  poplar  trees. 
I  presume  that  in  the  summer  they  must  be  quite  pretty, 
but  on  the  18th  of  November  the  leaves  were  dead,  and 
the  streets  had  rather  a  desolate  appearance.  The  tele- 
graph and  telephone  and  street  railway  poles  are  all  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  streets,  which  mar  their  beauty  con- 
siderably. 

The  heart  of  the  city,  and  the  place  to  which  visitors 
naturally  first  make  their  way,  is  the 

TEMPLE  ENCLOSURE. 

This  embraces  ten  acres  of  ground  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  beautifully  laid  off  with  lawns,  walks,  trees,  shrubs 
and  flowers.  There  is  a  high  stone  wall  around  the  en- 
closure through  which  there  are  several  gates.  On  the 
inside  are  the  Temple,  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Assembly 
Hall.  The  Temple  is  the  main  building.  This  is  the 
center  of  the  city,  and  in  fact  many  of  the  Mormons  re- 
gard it  as  the  center  of  the  earth.  All  the  streets  in  the 
city  take  their  names  from  their  location  with  reference 
to  the  Temple.  They  are  known,  for  instance,  as  East 
Temple  Street,  West  Temple,  South  Temple,  North  Tem- 
ple, First  South  Street,  Second  South  Street,  Third  East, 
Fourth  North,  Fifth  West,  etc.,  which  means  that  they 
are  the  First  or  Second  or  Third  streets  North  or  East  or 
West  or  South  of  the  Temple.  At  first  it  is  a  little  con- 
fusing to  a  stranger,  but  after  he  gets  used  to  it,  it  becomes 
easier  for  him  to  find  his  way  about  in  the  city  than  where 
the  streets  are  given  names,  such  as  Walnut  and  Chestnut 
and  Broad  and  Market  and  College  and  Cherry,  etc. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  287 

The  foundation  of  the  Temple  was  laid  on  April  6, 
1853,  by  Brigham  Young,  and  its  dedication  occurred 
April  6,  1893.    So  that  it  was  over  forty  years  in  building. 
It  is  180  feet  long  and  99  feet  wide.    The  foundation  wall 
is  10  feet  thick.    But  the  walls  get  thinner  from  story  to 
story  until  they  are  only  five  feet  wide  at  the  top.    There 
are  three  towers  on  each  end,  the  center  one  of  which  is 
higher  than  the  others.    The  east  central  one,  which  is  220 
feet  high,  is  surmounted  by  the  figure  of  the  angel  Mo- 
roni, twelve  and  one-half  feet  in  height,  made  of  ham- 
mered copper,  gilded.    Moroni  is  the  angel  who,  as  the 
Mormons  believe,  announced  to  Joseph  Smith  the  exist- 
ence and  location  of  the  golden  plates.    He  is  represented 
on  the  Temple  with  a  trumpet  in  his  mouth,  as  if  in  the 
act  of  delivering  his  message  of  "glad  tidings"  to  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.    It  is  estimated  that  the  Temple  cost 
from  three  to  four  million  dollars.    A  good  deal  of  this, 
however,  was  given  not  in  money  but  in  labor  or  in  prod- 
uce.    No   one   but   a   Mormon   is   allowed   within   the 
Temple,  and  he  must  be  a  pretty  good  Mormon.    In  Ap- 
pendix C,  however,  I  shall  tell  the  reader  about  the  secrets 
of  the  Temple  as  related  by  an  ex-Mormon.    Mormonism 
is  a  curious  mixture  of  various  things,  among  which  is 
a  kind  of  bastard  Masonry,  with  its  mystic  rites. 

But  while  none  except  Mormons  are  admitted  to  the 
Temple,  in  the  same  enclosure  is  the  Tabernacle,  where 
religious  services  are  held  each  Sabbath  afternoon,  to 
which  the  public  is  invited.  This  is  a  very  much  less 
costly  structure  than  the  Temple.  The  first  stone  in  the 
building  was  laid  April  5,  1865,  and  it  was  dedicated  Oct. 
6  1867.  The  cost  was  about  $300,000.  The  dimensions 
of  the  auditorium  are  150  feet  wide  by  250  feet  long  and 
80  feet  in  height.     Its  seating  capacity  is  about  7,000. 


288  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

It  is  claimed  that  it  is  the  largest  house  for  religious  wor- 
ship in  the  world.  I  am  not  sure  about  that.  I  doubt, 
however,  if  there  is  a  finer  auditorium  anywhere.  It  is 
built  on  the  plan  of  the  ellipse.  The  speakers  stand  in 
one  focus  of  the  ellipse,  and  as  there  are  no  pillars  and 
no  arches  to  break  the  air  waves  set  in  motion  by  the 
speaker,  his  voice  is  easily  carried  to  every  part  of  the 
building.  I  attended  two  services  in  the  Tabernacle,  both 
times  sitting  a  little  way  back,  and  had  no  trouble  in 
hearing  the  speakers,  except  one  young  missionary  who 
spoke  too  low.  Visiting  the  Tabernacle  during  the  week, 
I  requested  permission  to  stand  at  the  desk  and  try  the 
acoustic  properties  of  the  building,  and  found  that  it 
required  very  little  effort  to  speak.  I  also  stood  at  the 
back  end  of  the  building  in  the  gallery  and  distinctly 
heard  a  pin  drop  at  the  other  end.  This  is  a  famous  and 
favorite  method  which  the  guide  has  of  impressing  upon 
you  the  wonderful  acoustic  qualities  of  the  Tabernacle. 
I  could  also  distinguish  the  words  which  he  spoke  in  a 
whisper.  The  construction  of  the  building  is  very  pe- 
culiar. The  roof  has  no  pillar  to  support  it,  but  has  im- 
mense arches  which  rest  upon  forty-four  stone  piers.  It 
is  constructed  very  much  like  the  bottom  of  a  boat.  On 
the  outside  the  building  looks  strikingly  like  a  huge  turtle. 
The  organ  is  said  to  be  the  second  largest  in  America, 
the  largest  being  in  Trinity  Church,  New  York.  Its 
dimensions  are  30  by  33  feet,  and  48  feet  in  height.  It  has 
67  stops  and  2,648  pipes.  The  choir  numbers  from  500 
to  600  persons.  The  singing,  as  might  be  supposed,  is 
very  fine.  It  sounds,  however,  more  like  a  grand  opera 
than  it  does  like  church  music.  There  is  more  of  melody 
than  of  spirituality  about  it.  The  members  of  the  choir 
are  seated  on  a  large  raised  platform  which  runs  back 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  289 

on  both  sides  of  the  organ.  Just  in  front  of  the  organ 
are  four  rows  of  seats  occupied  at  the  Sunday  services 
by  the  dignitaries  and  officials  of  the  Mormon  Church. 
The  highest  and  principal  seat  is  reserved  for  the  first 
presidency  of  the  church,  the  next  for  the  twelve  apostles, 
the  third  for  the  president  of  the  stake,  his  counselors 
and  others,  while  the  fourth  and  lowest  is  reserved  for  the 
lesser  or  Aaronic  priesthood. 

The  audiences  in  attendance  upon  the  Sunday  after- 
noon service  usually  number  about  three  or  four  thousand 
people.  This  includes  not  only  the  Mormons  themselves, 
but  a  good  many  visitors  who  go  out  of  curiosity.  The 
speaking — it  could  hardly  be  called  preaching — is  not, 
as  a  rule,  of  a  very  high  order.  The  speeches  which  I 
heard — and  they  were  by  some  of  the  best  speakers  in 
the  Mormon  Church,  such  as  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  Dr. 
J.  E.  Talmage  and  others — were  taken  up  with  discussing 
the  alleged  growth  of  Mormonism,  and  predicting  the 
time  when  all  nations  should  adopt  it  and  should  "gather 
to  Zion."  There  was  very  little  in  the  speeches  to  edify 
or  inspire  a  man  to  a  higher  life,  and  nothing  to  fill  the 
soul.  There  was  an  utter  absence  of  spirituality  and 
emotion.  I  doubt  if  a  tear  was  ever  shed  in  the  Taber- 
nacle.   And  this  is  characteristic  of  all  Mormon  meetings. 

Standing  near  the  Temple  enclosure,  at  the  intersection 
of  Main  and  First  South  Streets,  is  Brigham  Young's 
statue.  This  was  erected  several  years  ago  at  the  expense 
of  the  city,  but  over  the  protests  of  the  Gentiles,  who  did 
not  believe  that  Brigham  Young  was  a  character  of  suffi- 
cient public  spirit  and  general  importance  to  be  thus 
honored.  They  take  their  revenge  now,  however,  by  call- 
ing attention  to  the  fact  that  he  stands  with  his  back  to  the 
Temple  and  his  hand  stretched  out  to  the  bank,  which 


290  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

attitude  they  say  was  characteristic  of  him  during  life. 
I  took  three  pictures  of  the  statue;  but  when  they  were 
developed,  lo !  and  behold !  I  found  that  I  had  cut  off  his 
head  every  time.    I  do  not  know  whether  to  interpret  this 
as  having  any  special  significance  or  not.    On  one  corner 
near  the  statue  is  the  office  of  the  Deseret  News.    This 
is  the  official  organ  of  the  Mormon  Church,  and  true  to 
the  character  of  the  church,  is  both  a  religious  and  a  po- 
litical paper.     It  is  published  every  afternoon.     I  had  a 
very  interesting  interview   with   its  editor,  Mr.  C.   W. 
Penrose,  which  I  gave  on  page  236.     At  the  other  end 
of  the  same  block  stands  a  group  of  houses  famous  in 
Mormon  history.    They  are  known  as  the  Bee  Hive,  the 
Office  and  the  Lion  House.    The  Bee  Hive  stands  on  the 
corner.    It  takes  its  name  from  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
large  bee  hive  on  the  cupola.     Just  why  the  bee  hive 
should  have  been  placed  there  is  not  quite  certain.     But 
as  this  was  the  home  of  Brigham  Young,  in  which  he  kept 
several  of  his  wives,  perhaps  the  Bee  Hive  was  intended 
as  symbolical  of  that  fact.    The  Lion  House  was,  how- 
ever, the  home  where  most  of  his  wives  were  kept,  and 
where  he  had  his  dining  room.    This  is  sometimes  called 
the  "House  of  Seven  Gables"  from  its  numerous  gable 
windows.    It  was  supposed  that  there  was  a  wife  to  every 
window.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  are  more  than  seven 
gables,  and  there  were  probably  more  than  seven  wives 
there  at  one  time,  as  he  had  twenty-six  in  all.  At  meal  time 
he  would  assemble  his  numerous  familyin  the  diningroom, 
wives,  children  and  all.    This  was  the  only  time  he  saw 
them  all  together.    Over  the  door  of  the  Lion  House  is 
the  figure  of  a  crouching  lion,  from  which  the  house  takes 
its  name.    This  was  perhaps  intended  to  give  warning  that 
no  one  would  be  allowed  within  its  portals,  or  that  Brig- 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  291 

ham  Young  was  himself  the  lion  of  the  house.  Between 
the  Bee  Hive  and  the  Lion  House  and  adjoining  the  two 
so  that  he  could  pass  from  one  to  the  other  without  com- 
ing out  upon  the  street,  is  the  office  of  the  president, 
which  is  still  used  for  that  purpose.  Here  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  President  Snow.  All  of  these  houses 
are  frame  buildings.  The  Bee  Hive  and  the  Lion  House 
are  two-story  buildings,  while  the  office  has  only  one 
story  Formerly  there  was  a  high  stone  wall  around  all 
the  buildings,  but  it  had  just  been  taken  down  when  I 
was  there,  and  I  had  better  opportunity  of  observing  them 
than  is  usually  given  to  strangers. 

Just  across  the  street  from  the  Bee  Hive  is  what  is 
known  as  the  Amelia  Palace,  which  was  built  by  Brigham 
Young  for  his  favorite  wife,  Mrs.  Amelia  Folsom  Young. 
She  was  his  twenty-fourth  wife,  and  was  one  of  the  hand- 
somest, and  perhaps  the  most  cultured,  of  them  all.    Read- 
ers of  Mormon  history  will  remember  how  ridiculous  he 
made  himself  over  her  when  he  was  courting  her,  and  how 
he  had  to  exercise  his  priestly  authority  to  "cut  out    some 
of  the  other  boys.     The  Palace  is  quite  a  nice  modern 
brick  structure.     It  now   belongs  to  one  of  the  United 
States  Senators  from  Utah.     There  are  some  seven  or 
eight  of  Brigham  Young's  wives  still  living,  several  of 
them,  it  is  said,  in  the  Lion  House,  and  others  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.    I  wanted  to  meet  some  of  them,  but 
did  not  wish  to  obtrude  myself  upon  them. 

Just  east  of  the  Bee  Hive  is  the  Eagle  Gate,  so  called 
from  the  large  eagle  surmounting  an  arch  which  spans 
the  road.  Originally  it  was  the  gateway  leading  into 
Brigham  Young's  private  grounds,  but  new  residences 
have  been  built  up  all  along  there,  and  the  road  is  a  regu- 
lar street  leading  to  that  part  of  the  city,  through  which 


292  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

the  street  cars  run.  On  the  east  side  of  this  street,  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  stone  wall,  is  Brigham  Young's  private 
school  house,  which,  it  is  said,  he  built  for  the  education 
of  his  numerous  children.  Around  the  corner  and  about 
a  block  further  up  is  his  private  cemetery,  in  which  he 
is  buried,  together  with  eight  of  his  wives.  There  is 
plenty  of  space  left  for  the  other  eighteen  as  well  as  for 
his  children.  As  he  had  twenty-six  wives,  and  there  are 
only  eight  living  and  eight  buried  there,  the  question 
came  as  to  where  were  the  other  ten.  This  I  could  not 
find  out,  though  I  searched  the  Mormon  cemetery  for  an 
answer  to  the  question.  It  is  quite  significant  that  he 
needed  both  a  private  school  house  and  a  private  ceme- 
tery. 

I  reached  Salt  Lake  City  on  Saturday  morning,  Nov. 
18. 

On  Sunday  morning,  in  company  with  a  friend  and  his 
daughter,  I  attended  a  Mormon  Sunday-school.  I  had 
a  kind  of  feeling  that  I  ought  to  be  in  a  Baptist  Sunday- 
school,  especially  as  I  had  been  notified  that  I  would  be 
expected  to  preach  that  morning  at  the  First  Baptist 
Church.  I  replied,  however,  that  I  was  a  Baptist  at 
home,  but  I  wanted  to  be  a  Mormon  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
I  was  there  on  a  special  mission,  and  I  thought  I  ought 
to  take  every  opportunity  of  learning  all  I  could  about 
Mormons.  Most  visitors  go  only  to  the  great  Tabernacle 
in  the  afternoon,  but  here  the  Mormons  are  on  dress 
parade.  I  wanted  to  see  them  in  their  every-day  clothes. 
One  of  the  best  places  to  do  so,  as  I  knew,  was  in  their 
Sunday-school.  When  we  walked  in  the  room  the  Sun- 
day-school had  begun.  The  teachers  were  sitting  around 
their  classes  teaching — what?  The  superintendent,  or 
some  one  else,  asked  if  we  would  not  like  to  go  up  to  the 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  293 

theological  class,  to  which  we  assented.     We  were  con- 
ducted through  a  back  door  and  up  a  flight  of  stairs  to  a 
small   room  in  which  the  theological  class  was   being 
taught.    The  teacher  was  a  very  nice  looking  and  clever 
young  man.    A  woman  was  reciting  the  book  of  Nephi 
in  broken  language.    She  was  a  Swede,  I  presume.    To 
me  she  spoke  in  an  unknown  tongue  in  a  double  sense. 
When  she  finished,  three  young  men  were  called  on  suc- 
cessively to  recite,  but  each  excused  himself,  saying  that 
he  did  not  know  the  lesson.     Another  lady  then  took  it 
up     The  book  of  Nephi  says  that  three  Nephites  are  still 
living.    In  proof  of  that  claim  the  following  stories  were 
told:     There  were  some  shepherds  lost  once,  and  they 
said  they  saw  these  three  Nephites  in  a  cave.     Another 
man  was  in  the  Mississippi  bottom,  and  he  was  led  out 
three  different  times,  and  it  was  supposed  that  each  time  it 
was  by  a  separate  person,  who  were  these  three  Nephites. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  lesson  the  teacher  asked  if  we 
would  like  to  ask  any  questions.    My  friend  asked  a  ques- 
tion with  reference  to  the  Indians,  whom  the  Mormons 
claim  are  the  descendants  of  the  Lamanites,  the  great  ene- 
mies of  the  Nephites. 

The  teacher  had  stated  that  they  believed  not  only  the 
Bible,  but  also  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  be  the  word  of 
God  I  asked  him  on  what  he  based  this  belief.  What 
were  the  evidences  of  its  divinity?  He  replied  that  it 
would  take  some  time  to  answer  that  question,  but  that 
he  would  try  to  do  so.  About  this  time  the  bell  rang  vio- 
lently. He  sent  some  one  down  stairs  and  asked  him  to 
explain  to  the  superintendent  the  situation.  The  mes- 
senger came  back  in  a  minute  and  reported  that  the  super- 
intendent said  that  the  teacher  might  remain  up  stairs 
with  his  visitors,  but  that  he  wanted  the  class  to  come 
down,  and  down  they  went,  and  we  with  them. 


294  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

After  the  Sunday-school  was  over  I  had  a  long  talk 
with  the  teacher  and  with  another  gentleman,  counselor 
to  the  Bishop,  I  think  he  is,  whom  the  teacher  called  in 
to  assist  in  the  discussion.  I  cannot  give  the  conversation 
in  detail.  It  lasted,  perhaps,  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  I  can 
only  give  the  substance  of  it.  It  began  by  the  teacher* 
asking  me  very  politely  if  I  would  like  to  ask  any  ques- 
tions. He  handed  me  a  copy  of  their  articles  of  faith,  and 
said  perhaps  I  would  like  to  ask  some  questions  with 
reference  to  them.  That  was  exactly  what  I  wanted.  So 
I  said :  "I  see  your  first  article  of  faith  says,  'We  believe 
in  God,  the  Eternal  Father.'  What  kind  of  a  God  ?  What 
kind  of  a  Father?" 

The  following  admissions  were  made  in  the  course  of 
the  conversation  by  the  gentlemen : 

1.  That  God  is  a  literal  Father.  He  is  the  Father  of 
our  spirits.    Our  earthly  father  is  the  father  of  our  bodies. 

2.  There  are  many  Gods. 

3.  God  has  a  wife,  and  maybe  many  wives. 

4.  "As  man  is,  God  was.    As  God  is,  man  may  be." 

5.  Christ  was  probably  a  polygamist.  Many  Mormons 
think  so. 

6.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  substance.  They  spoke  of 
Him  as  "it." 

7.  "Adam  fell  that  men  might  be." 

8.  No  one  but  a  Mormon  can  be  saved,  but  there  will 
be  a  second  probation.  And  yet  it  will  be  harder  for 
those  who  reject  the  gospel  here  to  be  saved. 

9.  They  believe  in  polygamy.  It  is  needed,  for  all  of 
a  man's  powers  should  be  used  for  procreation. 

10.  They  said  there  had  been  no  plural  marriages  since 
the  manifesto  in  1890.  They  admitted  that  Mr.  Roberts 
and  others  have  been  living  in  cohabitation  with  more 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  295 

than  one  wife,  but  thought  that  as  he  had  promised  to  be 
a  husband  to  them,  he  should  be  in  the  fullest  sense.  They 
said  that  the  clause  in  the  State  code  against  unlawful 
cohabitation  slipped  in  by  mistake. 

In  the  course  of  the  conversation  I  was  simply  an  in- 
vestigator. I  did  not  attempt  to  argue  with  them.  I  was 
only  trying  to  find  out  what  they  believed.  I  knew  pretty 
well  before  hand  what  they  believed  on  all  these  points, 
because  I  had  read  it  in  the  books,  but  it  was  interesting 
to  hear  the  expression  of  their  faith  from  their  own  lips. 
There  were  other  points  I  wanted  to  bring  out,  but  as  it 
was  now  about  1  o'clock,  and  as  I  wanted  to  attend  the 
services  in  the  Tabernacle  that  afternoon,  we  had  to  bring 
the  conversation  to  a  close.  Before  I  left  the  teacher 
asked  me,  "Are  you  not  a  preacher?"  I  told  him  I  was. 
"Where  from?"  I  told  him  Tennessee.  He  said  he  had 
labored  as  a  missionary  in  Tennessee  some  time  ago.  We 
then  parted  in  good  humor. 

After  a  delightful  meal  at  the  home  of  my  friend  we 
hurried  off  to  the  Tabernacle.    Here  we  found  some  four 
or  five  thousand  people  assembled.     The  great  choir  of 
five  hundred  voices  was  singing  as  we  went  in.     They 
certainly  make  beautiful  music,  but,   as   I   said  before, 
there  is  more  of  melody  than  of  spirituality  about  it.    Nor 
is  there  any  spirituality  about  the  Mormon  prayers,  which 
are  few,  cold  and  formal.     I  did  not  hear  a  passage  of 
Scripture  read  at  any  of  their  services.    It  is  customary 
for  two  persons  to  speak  at  each  service.    The  two  speak- 
ers that  afternoon  were  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  and  Dr. 
James  E.  Talmage,  who  is  their  brag  theologian.    Brig- 
ham  Young,  Jr.,  looks  a  good  deal  like  his  distinguished 
father,  though  he  lacks  his  father's  strength  of  charac- 
ter. I  give  an  outline  of  his  remarks  as  I  took  them  down 


296  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

at  the  time  to  indicate  the  character  of  the  preaching  in 
the  Tabernacle.  Mr.  Young  said:  "We  want  room. 
There  are  other  lands  for  us  to  occupy.  The  people  in 
the  East  are  surprised  that  we  believe  in  God,  the  Father, 
the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  gentleman  said  to  me  that 
he  thought  the  foundations  of  the  Christian  faith  were 
destroyed  when  the  law  against  polygamy  was  passed. 
I  told  him  that  polygamy  is  a  small  part  of  our  system. 
God  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  have  appeared  in 
these  latter  days.  The  foundation  of  the  church  of  the 
Latter-Day  Saints  is  God.  It  shall  never  be  overthrown. 
The  Spirit  of  God  dwells  in  it.  If  you  are  laboring  for 
money  the  church  teaches  that  you  must  use  that  money 
for  God's  glory.  There  must  be  faith,  repentance,  bap- 
tism, laying  on  of  hands  in  order  to  salvation.  There  is 
nothing  done  without  that  Spirit.  It  dwells  in  us  day  and 
night.  This  makes  us  fit  companions  for  the  great  I  Am. 
We  shall  be  with  him,  because  we  shall  be  like  him.  Noth- 
ing daunts  us  while  we  keep  that  Spirit.  We  can  laugh 
at  persecution.  See  the  difference  between  those  who 
have  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  and  those  who  have  it  not. 
It  is  the  difference  between  black  and  white.  Zion  is  the 
stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  side.  I  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  to  spend  two  weeks  in  Chicago.  I  took 
it  as  a  great  calamity,  but  I  survived  it.  Everything  was 
money,  money.  I  was  accustomed  to  ask,  Is  it  the  will  of 
God  ?  not,  Is  there  money  in  it  ? 

"A  frost  at  Liverpool  in  1891  and  1892  slew  two  hun- 
dred innocents.  In  Chicago  it  is  worse  than  that.  It  is 
the  mission  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints  to  redeem  and  save 
the  world.  When  I  sought  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  did 
I  get  it?  I  did.  'Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness/    Shall  we  continue  laboring  to  save 


THE   MORMON   MONSTER.  297 

the  world  ?  What  inducements  are  there  ?  I  want  to  meet 
those  gone  before,  to  make  those  around  me  happy,  to 
save  the  dead  by  baptism.  It  is  a  stupenduous  work.  May 
God  bless  every  sect  that  is  trying  to  do  right,  and  those 
who  are  hypocrites  may  the  curse  of  God  rest  upon  them." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Young's  address  a  gentleman 
turned  to  me  and  said :  "Well,  what  do  you  think  of  that 
harangue?"  The  word  was  very  fitting.  It  was  not  a 
sermon,  but  a  stump  speech,  full  of  braggadocio,  and  de- 
livered in  a  rather  awkward  manner.  One  of  the  daily 
papers  next  day  expressed  surprise  that  Mr.  Young 
should  have  made  the  reference  he  did  to  Chicago  seeking 
money,  when  it  was  understood  that  he  was  there  himself 
on  a  business  trip. 

The  other  speaker  was  Dr.  James  E.  Talmage,  for- 
merly president  of  the  Mormon  College  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
I  took  down  his  remarks,  but  as  they  were  quite  lengthy 
I  shall  not  give  them.  Mr.  Young  was  uncouth  and  un- 
polished. Dr.  Talmage  is  a  man  of  some  culture  and 
spoke  with  ease  and  grace.  After  the  services  were  over 
I  got  a  good  look  at  him  as  he  passed  near  me,  and  was 
really  very  much  disappointed  to  find  that  he  has  the 
same  short  bull  neck,  and  the  same  coarse,  sensual  appear- 
ance characteristic  of  nearly  all  Mormon  elders. 

At  night  I  attended  a  ward  meeting.  The  whole  of 
the  territory  of  Utah,  and  especially  of  Salt  Lake  City,  is 
divided  into  wards  corresponding  largely  in  size  to  the 
wards  in  our  various  cities.  In  each  ward  there  is  one 
meeting  house  for  that  ward,  which  all  Mormons  in  the 
ward  are  expected  to  attend,  and  as  these  meeting  houses 
are  not  very  large  they  are  generally  about  full.  As  we 
entered  the  house  a  young  Mormon  missionary  was  speak- 
ing.    I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  his  ignorance  of 


298  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Scripture.  For  instance,  at  one  time  he  quoted  a  passage 
from  Isaiah  and  attributed  it  to  Malachi.  At  another 
time  he  represented  Elijah  as  being  in  a  cave  at  Mt. 
C arm  el.  When  he  closed,  according  to  the  Mormon  cus- 
tom of  having  two  speakers  at  every  meeting,  an  old 
man  by  the  name  of  Spencer  (David  Spencer,  I  think) 
arose.  He  argued  that  it  was  not  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit  but  belief  in  Joseph  Smith,  Brigham  Young,  etc., 
that  makes  a  true  Mormon — and  he  was  certainly  right 
about  it.  He  told  about  the  Mormon  persecutions,  as 
the  Mormons  always  term  their  sufferings,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  they  themselves  had  provoked  the  people 
of  Missouri  and  of  Illinois  into  driving  them  out.  He 
claimed  that  the  Mormons  were  the  servants  of  the  Lord, 
the  embassadors  to  carry  the  gospel  to  all  the  world, 
and  that  it  is  a  glorious  privilege  given  them  to  do  so. 

During  the  week  I  had  several  interesting  conversa- 
tions with  some  of  the  Mormon  people.  For  instance,  in 
a  certain  store  there  are  two  Mormon  lady  clerks.  I 
got  into  a  conversation  with  one  of  them.  She  is  a 
young  married  woman.  She  said  that  she  believed  that 
God  is  a  man  with  flesh  and  bones,  but  without  blood; 
that  he  is  our  literal  father;  that  Christ  was  a  polyga- 
mist;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  substance;  that  she  be- 
lieved in  polygamy,  but  she  did  not  know  why.  Her 
husband,  she  told  me,  is  off  on  a  mission  in  Germany 
and  had  been  gone  fifteen  months. 

Another  lady  in  the  store  came  by,  and  the  first  lady 
said  to  her  that  I  had  put  a  question  to  her  she  could 
not  answer — that  I  had  asked  her  why  she  believed  in 
polygamy.  The  second,  who  was  a  very  pretty  young 
lady,  said  that  she  knew  why  she  believed  in  polygamy. 
"Why?"  I  asked.     "Because,"  she  said.     "Well,  that  is 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  299 

a  woman's  reason,"  I  said;  "give  me  a  man's  reason." 
"Because,"  she  said,  "it  makes  a  man  a  better  man,  and 
a  woman  a  better  woman."  Another  reason  she  had  for 
believing  in  it  was  that  Joseph  Smith  commanded  it.  "It 
is  a  part  of  our  religion,"  she  said.  She  also  thought 
that  God  was  a  man,  and  that  he  was  Adam,  and  that 
man  may  become  God. 

While  having  my  shoes  polished  one  day  I  got  to  talk- 
ing with  the  bootblack.  He  told  me  that  he  was  a  Mor- 
mon. He  said  that  he  believed  that  God  is  a  man,  that 
there  are  many  Gods,  and  that  he  believed  in  polygamy, 
for  the  reason  that  "it  makes  a  man  a  better  man."  He 
referred  to  corruption  in  Eastern  cities.  I  asked  him 
what  about  Salt  Lake  City.  Another  man  standing  by, 
not  a  Mormon,  said  that  it  was  full  of  corruption.  This 
testimony  I  received  over  and  over  again  from  various 
witnesses.  I  have  already  given  some  of  the  facts  which 
were  related  to  me  in  this  connection. 

I  had  a  conversation  one  day  with  a  young  lady  stenog- 
rapher in  a  certain  office.  She  said  that  she  was  a  Mor- 
mon because  she  believed  that  Mormonism  is  the  only 
religion.  She  believed  that  God  is  a  man,  but  that  there 
is  only  one  God.  She  does  not,  however,  believe  in  polyg- 
amy. Polygamous  wives,  she  said,  are  unhappy,  what- 
ever they  may  tell  you.  She  proposed  to  accept  whatever 
the  priesthood  tells  her  if  it  was  according  to  her  reason. 
"Intellect,"  she  said,  "is  everything."  She  thought  that 
a  person  would  be  saved  by  his  own  deeds,  that  the  good 
would  overbalance  the  bad.  She  goes  to  Sunday-school 
and  Tabernacle  services  and  ward  meetings  only  when 
she  feels  like  it.  I  told  her  that  she  is  not  a  good  Mor- 
mon. And  there  are  a  good  many  Mormons,  who,  like 
her,  are  throwing  off  the  shackles  of  Mormonism  as  they 


300  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

come  in  contact  with  the  outside  world  and  see  the  falsity 
of  many  things  they  had  been  taught  to  believe.  God 
speed  the  day  when  the  shackles  shall  all  be  gone. 

Just  back  of  the  Lion  House  in  Salt  Lake  City  is  the 
tithing  office.  The  Mormons  demand  that  all  members 
of  their  church  shall  pay  tithes  of  their  income.  Not  all 
of  them  do  it,  however.  If  they  did,  the  income  of  the 
church  would  amount  to  about  $3,000,000.  As  it  is,  it 
amounts  to  only  about  $700,000  or  $800,000.  But  special 
efforts  have  been  made  recently  to  induce  every  one  to 
pay  his  tithes.  All  of  the  privileges  of  the  church  are 
withheld  from  them  until  they  do.  Tithing  may  be  paid 
either  in  money  or  in  produce  or  goods.  There  are  three 
houses  for  the  reception  of  the  tithes,  all  joined  together. 
In  one  money  is  received,  in  another  dry  goods,  in  another 
groceries.  Strict  account  is  kept  of  everything  received, 
and  of  the  names  of  those  who  give  it,  but  no  account  is 
ever  rendered  to  the  people  as  to  how  the  money  is  spent. 

I  went  down  to  the  tithing  office  one  day.  The  man 
who  receives  the  money  was  busy,  so  I  stepped  into  the 
dry  goods  department.  As  I  began  talking  to  the  clerk  a 
little  girl  came  in  to  buy  something.  I  told  him  that  I 
had  no  special  business  and  to  wait  on  his  customer.  He 
said  that  that  was  all  right,  she  could  wait.  I  asked  him 
about  the  system  of  tithing.  He  told  me,  what  I  have 
stated,  that  tithings  are  contributed  either  in  money  or 
in  goods,  that  in  his  department  the  merchants  will  con- 
tribute their  tithings  in  goods  out  of  their  stores  at  whole- 
sale rates,  and  that  he  sells  them  at  the  same  price  at 
which  the  merchants  would  sell  them.  I  asked  him  what 
became  of  the  money  thus  received,  whether  it  was  given 
to  the  officials  of  the  church.  He  said  that  none  of  the 
officials  received  any  salary — a  fact  which  I  already  knew 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  301 

— but  that  sometimes  the  bishop  would  come  down  and 
get  a  pair  of  shoes  or  something  of  that  kind  from  him. 
I  then  asked  very  innocently  if  there  was  any  account 
rendered  of  the  money.  He  looked  a  little  surprised  and 
said,  "Sir?"  I  said,  "Is  there  any  account  rendered  to 
the  people  of  the  money  ?"  He  said,  "Well,  I  am  very 
busy ;  if  you  will  go  into  the  next  store,  perhaps  the  man 
in  there  will  have  time  to  talk  with  you."  The  fact  is,  as 
I  said,  that  there  is  no  account  rendered.  No  one  knows 
what  becomes  of  the  money — that  is,  no  one  except  those 
who  get  it. 

I  have  been  asked  several  times  since  my  return  home 
if  I  saw  any  polygamous  families  while  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
I  was  really  anxious  to  get  into  a  polygamous  home  while 
there,  and  see  the  polygamous  wives  for  myself.  I  stated 
my  desire  to  an  ex-Mormon,  and  he  introduced  me  to  a 
polygamist,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  very  clever  man.  I  got 
pretty  well  acquainted  with  him,  and  one  day  he  invited 
me  to  go  to  his  home.  I  thanked  him  and  asked  him  when 
I  could  go.  He  said,  "Any  time ;  go  this  evening ;  go  now, 
if  you  wish."  I  told  him  I  did  not  care  to  go  to  his  home 
when  he  was  not  there.  So  it  was  arranged  that  I  should 
call  that  night  while  he  was  at  home.  He  said,  "Now,  I 
don't  want  you  to  tell  on  me."  You  see,  people  were  being 
arrested  in  Salt  Lake  City  at  that  time  for  living  in 
polygamous  cohabitation.  I  replied  to  him,  "I  will  tell  you 
candidly,  I  am  representing  a  paper,  and  I  expect  to 
write  up  what  I  see,  but  I  will  not  call  your  name  and  will 
not  tell  anybody  about  you."  Soon  after  supper  I  started 
to  his  home,  but  while  I  was  on  my  way  I  received  word 
that  he  had  sickness  in  his  family,  and  that  it  would  not 
be  convenient  for  me  to  call  that  night.  I  saw  him  the 
next  morning,  and  inquired  about  his  family,  and  told 


302  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

him  that  I  hoped  the  sick  ones  were  better.  He  said  that 
he  was  afraid  that  they  were  threatened  with  scarlet 
fever  or  something  of  that  kind,  and  he  did  not  know 
just  how  it  was  going  to  turn  out,  so  that  it  would  not  be 
convenient  for  me  to  go  to  his  home  at  that  time,  but  that 
he  wanted  me  to  be  sure  to  do  so  the  next  time  I  came  to 
Salt  Lake  City.    I  told  him  that  I  would  be  glad  to  do  so. 

'The  next  time!"  And  so  I  found  it  ever  with  the 
Mormons.  You  can  go  just  so  far  with  them  and  no 
farther.  Up  to  a  certain  point  they  are  pleasant  and 
polite  as  possible.  They  do  not  mind  giving  you  any  in- 
formation about  their  religion  which  does  not  mean  any- 
thing. But  if  by  your  questions  you  show  that  you  know 
too  much,  or  if  you  try  to  get  into  the  inner  circles  and 
find  out  the  hidden  things  which  they  mean  to  keep  hidden 
from  the  outside  world — and  there  are  a  great  many  of 
them  —  you  instantly  find  yourself  blocked  very  thor- 
oughly. 

I  have  given  a  good  deal  of  space  to  Mormon  affairs 
in  Salt  Lake  City  because  I  went  there  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  them,  and  also  because  the  city  has  become  iden- 
tified in  the  public  mind  with  Mormons,  and  I  knew  that 
my  readers  would  feel  a  special  interest  in  having  me  tell 
about  them.  But  the  Mormons  are  not  the  only  people  in 
Salt  Lake  City  by  a  good  many.  As  I  stated,  they  form 
at  present  only  half  of  the  population  of  the  city,  there 
being  about  30,000  Mormons  and  30,000  Gentiles.  In 
the  election  which  occurred  just  before  I  was  there,  the 
city  was  carried  by  the  Gentiles  by  a  few  hundred  votes. 
This,  however,  was  by  the  aid  of  some  ex-Mormons,  or 
Jack-Mormons. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  churches  at  work  in  the 
city,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Campbellite,  etc. 


THE   MORMON   MONSTER.  303 

I  attended  the  general  Ministers'  Conference  the  first 
Monday  morning  I  was  there.  There  were  some  eighteen 
or  twenty  ministers  present,  and  they  were  a  bright,  fine 
looking  set  of  men.  They  will  compare  well  with  the 
ministers  in  any  city.  The  Presbyterians  seem  to  be  in 
the  lead ;  at  least  I  met  more  Presbyterian  ministers  than 
of  any  other  denomination.  Certainly  they  are  in  the 
lead  in  opposition  to  Mormonism.  The  names  of  Drs. 
Paden  and  McNiece,  and  Rev.  W.  R.  Campbell, 
of  Salt  Lake  City ;  Revs.  N.  E.  Clemenson,  of  Logan, 
and  H.  H.  McCreery,  of  Mt.  ^Pleasant,  are  worthy  of 
special  mention  in  this  connection.  It  is  to  them,  more 
than  to  any  others,  perhaps,  that  credit  is  due  for  work- 
ing up  public  sentiment  against  the  seating  of  Mr.  Roberts 
in  Congress.  The  Kinsman,  a  magazine  issued  monthly 
by  the  Kinsman  Publishing  Co.,  has  also  done,  and 
is  doing,  noble  service  along  this  line.  I  mention  these 
names  because  I  felt  that  I  wanted  to  give  honor  to  whom 
honor  is  due. 

The  Baptists  are  not  very  far  behind.  They  are  repre- 
sented by  three  churches,  the  First  Baptist  Church,  of 
which  Rev.  H.  B.  Steelman  is  pastor,  and  East  Church, 
Rev.  E.  H.  Shanks,  pastor.  Also  Rev.  J.  D.  Johnson  is 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Murray,  which  is  a  suburb 
of  Salt  Lake  City.  I  had  the  privilege  of  preaching  in  the 
First  and  East  Churches.  A  revival  was  in  progress  at 
the  East  Church,  conducted  by  Rev.  E.  H.  Shanks,  who 
had  just  come  to  the  city,  and  who  has  since  been  called 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  church.  He  is  a  cultured,  conse- 
crated Christian  man,  and  I  expect  him  to  accomplish 
much  good.  The  membership  of  his  church  is  not  very 
large,  but  it  is  composed  of  an  excellent  class  of  people. 
Miss  Parsons,  who  is  laboring  under  the  auspices  of  the 


304  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

Home  Mission  Society  in  Salt  Lake  City,  is  a  member  of 
that  church.  She  is  doing  much  good,  especially  through 
her  industrial  school.  She  has  a  large  class  of  boys,  to 
whom  she  imparts  much  practical  and  useful  knowledge, 
and  whom  she  tries  at  the  same  time  to  instruct  in  the  way 
of  the  Lord. 

The  second  Sunday  of  my  stay  in  the  city  I  preached  at 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  morning.  Rev.  H.  B. 
Steelman  is  the  popular  and  scholarly  pastor.  He  was 
confined  at  home  on  account  of  sickness  in  his  family.  The 
church  is  centrally  located,  has  a  good  house  of  worship, 
and  is  composed  of  some  of  the  best  people  in  the  city. 
The  congregation  was  large,  and  was  very  attentive  and 
sympathetic.    I  enjoyed  very  much  preaching  to  them. 

Churches  of  other  denominations  besides  the  Mormons 
do  not,  however,  have  a  very  easy  time  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
In  the  first  place,  the  Mormon  church — I  call  it  so  for  the 
sake  of  convenience — is  the  big  church  of  the  city.  About 
half  the  people  in  the  city  are  members  of  it.  The  Tem- 
ple is  the  center  of  the  city,  and  the  Tabernacle  on  Sunday 
afternoons  is  the  great  gathering  place  for  the  people.  In 
the  second  place,  the  Mormons  and  Gentiles,  like  the  Jews 
and  Samaritans,  have  no  dealings  with  one  another.  They 
trade  very  little  with  each  other.  The  Mormons  have 
their  stores  and  the  Gentiles  have  theirs.  The  Mormons 
go  almost  entirely  to  their  own  services,  and  attend  the 
churches  of  other  denominations  very  little.  Nor  do 
Gentiles  go  much  to  Mormon  services.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  go  into  the  Temple  at  all.  Some  of  them  go  to 
the  Tabernacle  services  on  Sunday  afternoons,  but  very 
few,  if  any,  go  to  their  Sunday  schools  or  their  ward 
meetings.  The  two  peoples  are  almost  as  distinct  as  the 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  or  as  the  Americans  and  French  in 
New  Orleans.    The  Mormons  make  almost  no  converts 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  305 

from  the  Gentiles.  It  is  estimated  that  one  per  cent  would 
cover  the  number.  On  the  contrary,  about  16  per  cent  of 
the  membership  in  the  Gentile  churches  came  from  the 
Mormons.  But  it  requires  hard  work  to  get  them,  even 
after  they  leave  the  Mormon  church.  In  that  case,  as  is 
the  case  with  Catholics  in  Italy  and  Mexico,  they  are  apt 
to  go  oft  into  infidelity.  The  Mormon  church  claims  to 
be  the  only  true  church,  and  these  ex-Mormons  seem  to 
feel  that  if  the  claims  of  the  Mormon  church  are  not  true, 
they  do  not  know  where  to  turn,  and  so  they  drift  into 
indifference  and  infidelity. 

Another  reason  why  it  is  difficult  to  make  converts  from 
the  Mormons  is  that  their  religion  is  so  utterly  different 
from  any  other  religion.     It  claims  to  be  the  only  true 
religion,  and  yet  it  has  no  spirituality  about  it  at  all.     1  he 
Mormons  make  fun  of  emotion  in  religion.     It  is  all  a 
cold  dead,  formal  worship,  which  dries  up  the  fountains 
of  spirituality,  and  of  the  deepest  religious  experiences. 
This  not  only  makes  it  difficult  to  get  converts  among 
them  to  other  churches  which  teach  the  importance  of 
having  this  spiritual  power,  but  it  has  a  reflex  influence 
upon  these  churches,  and  tends   to  deaden  their  own 
spiritual  life.     An  old-fashioned,  genuine  revival  of  re- 
ligion, with  tears  of  sorrow  and  shouts  of  joy,  wou  d 
seem  so  much  out  of  place  in  Salt  Lake  City  that  it  would 
be  an  anomaly,  even  if  it  were  a  possibility. 

Before  taking  my  leave  of  Salt  Lake  City,  allow  me  to 
say  that  I  enjoyed  my  two  weeks'  stay  there  upon  the 
whole  very  much.  I  met  a  number  of  excellent  people 
and  made  some  good  friends  among  them.  They  were  all 
very  kind  to  me.  Even  the  Mormons  were  kind  and  polite 
until  I  got  to  asking  too  many  questions  and  coming  too 
close  home,  and  then  their  manner  would  change,  and 
they  would  usually  shut  me  off.     If  only  the  curse  of 


3o6  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

Mormonism  could  be  removed  from  the  fair  city,  it  would 
become  exceedingly  prosperous.  Situated  just  on  the 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  a  rich  valley  between 
the  Wasatch  and  Oquirrh  mountains,  and  near  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  it  has  many  natural  advantages.  This  the 
Gentiles  are  recognizing,  and  many  of  them  are  taking  up 
their  residences  there,  so  that  the  Gentile  population  of 
the  city  is  growing  much  faster  than  the  Mormon.  In  a 
short  while  the  Gentiles  will  have  entire  control  of  the 
city,  and  perhaps  also  of  the  State  after  a  while.  And 
then  the  desert  will  be  made  to  "blossom  as  the  rose." 


APPENDIX  B. 

THE  RELATION  OF  SIDNEY  RIGDON  TO  THE 
BOOK  OF  MORMON. 

BY   W.    A.    STANTON,   D.D.,    IN    THE    CHICAGO   STANDARD   OF 
JULY  22,  1899. 

Three  movements  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  each  of  which  was  claimed  by  its  leader  to 
be  a  reformation  of  religion,  have  an  important  place  in 
American  religious  history.  The  earliest  of  these  move- 
ments was  the  one  led  by  Alexander  Campbell  and  Wal- 
ter Scott,  resulting  in  the  establishment  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,  or  Christians,  as  a  separate  body. 

The  second  was  the  beginning  and  rise  of  Mormonism 
under  the  manipulations  of  Joseph  Smith  and  Sidney  Rig- 
don.  The  third  was  the  development  of  modern  spiritual- 
ism, or  "spiritism,"  beginning  with  the  "rappings"  of  the 
Fox  sisters  in  Western  New  York.  The  first  two  "re- 
formations" had  close  connection  with  Baptist  history  in 
and  about  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  Having  been  pastor  of  a  Bap- 
tist church  in  Pittsburgh  for  about  ten  years,  with  excel- 
lent opportunities  for  investigations,  I  propose  to  tell  what 
I  have  learned  as  to  the  relation  of  Sidney  Rigdon  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon.  Of  course,  this  story  will  be  denied  by 
Mormons  and  their  friends;  within  twelve  hours  of  this 
writing  I  have  been  visited  by  two  Mormon  officials  and 
treated  to  a  strenuous  and  indignant  denial ;  but  denial  is 
not  proof.  I  submit  the  plain,  unvarnished  facts  to  the 
public,  and  abide  by  its  verdict. 

3°7 


308  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

rigdon's  beginnings. 

He  was  born  February  19,  1793,  on  a  farm  near  the 
hamlet  of  Library,  a  few  miles  south  of  Pittsburgh.  Elder 
David  Phillips  baptized  him  into  the  membership  of  the 
Peter's  Creek  Baptist  Church,  at  Library,  May  31,  18 17. 
On  January  28,  1822,  he  became  the  third  pastor  that  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Pittsburg  had  had,  said  church 
having  been  organized  in  1812.  Alexander  Campbell  had 
supplied  the  pulpit  at  times,  and  it  was  largely  through  his 
influence  that  Rigdon  was  called.  He  had  almost  sup- 
planted his  faithful  pastor  at  Peter's  Creek  by  his  for- 
wardness and  ambition.  Elder  Phillips  said,  "As  long  as 
Rigdon  lives  he  will  be  a  curse  to  the  church  of  Christ." 
Rev.  Samuel  Williams  was  a  successor  to  Rigdon  in  the 
Pittsburgh  pastorate.  From  a  sermon  of  Williams'  on 
Mormonism,  I  quote :  "There  was  so  much  of  the  miracu- 
lous about  Rigdon's  conversion  at  Library,  and  so  much 
parade  about  his  profession,  that  the  pious  and  discerning 
pastor  entertained  serious  doubts  at  the  time,  in  regard  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  work."  Rigdon  afterward  con- 
fessed to  a  deacon  of  the  Pittsburgh  church  that  he  "made 
up  his  experience  in  order  to  get  into  the  church." 

He  came  to  Pittsburgh  direct  from  Warren,  Ohio.  The 
church  here  had  ninety-six  members.  In  September, 
1822,  six  months  after  his  pastorate  began,  the  First 
Church  entertained  the  old  Redstone  Association.  Alex- 
ander Campbell  and  his  father,  Thomas,  were  both  pres- 
ent, talking  and  preaching  their  new  doctrines.  Rigdon 
was  converted  to  their  views  and  began  preaching  them. 
A  strong  minority  protested.  A  deacon,  the  clerk,  and 
thirteen  other  members  were  excluded  for  protesting 
against  the  preaching  of  the  pastor.  They  went  to  the 
school  room  of  Rev.  John  Winter,  M.D.,  a  regular  Bap- 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  309 

list  minister,  and  under  his  leadership  maintained  the 
claim  that  they  were  the  First  Regular  Baptist  Church  of 
Pittsburgh.  A  carefully  prepared  paper  was  drawn  up 
by  them,  protesting  against  their  exclusion  and  asserting 
that  the  majority  party  were  no  longer  Baptists.  They 
also  asserted  their  moral,  legal,  and  ecclesiastical  right  to 
the  church  property.  A  mutual  council  was  finally  called. 
It  met  October  11,  1823.  The  moderator  was  Elder  Frey, 
the  clerk  being  Ephraim  Estey.  The  verdict  was  in  favor 
of  the  excluded  minority.  Rigdon  was  found  guilty  of 
"holding  and  teaching  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion and  many  other  abominable  heresies."  He  was  there- 
upon deposed  from  the  ministry  and  excluded  from  the 
church. 

He  and  his  sympathizers  surrendered  the  property  and 
the  Regular  Baptists  were  once  more  "at  home."  The  fol- 
lowing were  the  things  charged  against  him  : 

1.  That  he  taught  that  Christians  are  not  under  obliga- 
tion to  keep  the  moral  law,  it  having  been  abolished  by  our 
Saviour. 

2.  That  the  Jewish  dispensation  was  not  the  best  one 
that  God  might  have  given  to  them,  for  it  had  made  them 
three-fold  more  the  children  of  hell  than  they  were  before. 

3.  That  a  change  of  heart  consists  merely  in  a  change  of 
views  and  baptism. 

4.  That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  religious  experience. 

5.  That  saving  faith  is  a  mere  crediting  of  the  testimony 
given  by  the  evangelists,  such  as  all  men  have  in  the  truth 
of  any  history. 

6.  That  it  is  wrong  to  use  the  Lord's  prayer,  inasmuch 
as  the  reign  of  Christ  has  already  commenced. 

He  was  also  said  to  emphasize  the  restoration  of  the 
ancient  order,  especially  as  to  the  bringing  of  one's  pos- 


3io  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

sessions  and  laying  them  at  the  apostle's  feet.  He  con- 
demned the  regular  ministry  for  accepting  salaries  and 
said  "they  milched  the  goats."  Elder  Williams  said, 
"While  Rigdon  denounced  others  for  milching  the  goats, 
he  himself  could  without  difficulty  take  them  down,  hide, 
horns  and  all." 

In  1824  he  and  his  followers  effected  a  union  with  an 
independent  congregation  meeting  in  the  Pittsburgh 
Court  House  under  the  leadership  of  Walter  Scott,  and 
practicing  immersion.  Within  a  few  months  after  this 
Rigdon  went  to  the  Western  Reserve,  Ohio.  From  this 
time  until  his  public  connection  with  Joseph  Smith,  he 
propagated  the  doctrines  of  Alexander  Campbell  and  Wal- 
ter Scott  by  preaching  and  circulating  their  books  and 
periodicals.  In  a  number  of  instances  he  succeeded  in 
forming  a  party  in  churches  where  he  was  allowed  to 
preach,  and  by  stratagem  or  force  succeeded  in  securing 
to  said  parties  the  church  property. 

In  August,  1827,  Campbell,  Scott  and  Rigdon  met  again 
at  the  Mahoning  Baptist  Association,  in  New  Lisbon, 
Ohio.  Campbell  was  a  member  of  the  association,  the 
two  others  were  visitors.  By  courtesy  of  the  association 
Rigdon  preached  a  sermon  on  the  evening  of  August  23. 
The  story  of  the  appointment  at  said  association  of  Walter 
Scott  as  associational  evangelist,  his  hesitation  to  accept 
because  he  was  not  a  Baptist,  his  final  acceptance  through 
the  influence  of  Campbell  and  Rigdon,  his  two  years' 
work  in  that  capacity,  and  the  disbanding  of  the  associa- 
tion at  Austintown,  in  1829,  is  interesting,  but  it  is  "an- 
other story."  Scott's  biographer,  Baxter,  says :  "The  ac- 
tion taken  at  Austintown  may  be  regarded  as  the  formal 
separation  from  the  Baptists.  Those  Baptists  who  had 
embraced  the  new  views,  together  with  the  new  converts 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3" 

made,  were  called  Campbellites,  and  by  many  Scottites ; 
but  after  the  dissolution  of  the  association,  which  was 
really  brought  about  by  the  efforts  of  Scott,  they  were 
called  Disciples." 

So  much  for  the  origin  of  the  "Disciples."    We  turn 

again  to 

SIDNEY  R1GDON  AND  MORMONISM. 

When  Rigdon  preached  at  the  association  in  New  Lis- 
bon his  home  was  in  Kirtland,  Ohio.     Just  thirty  days 
after  that  sermon  Joseph  Smith  proclaimed  his  finding  of 
"The  Golden  Bible,"  better  known  as  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, at  the  little  village  of  Manchester,  six  miles  from 
Palmyra,  N.  Y.    Rigdon  soon  went  thither,  professed  im- 
mediate '  conversion    to    the    "find,"    and    straightway 
preached  the  first  Mormon  sermon.     It  was  preached  in 
Palmyra  and  showed  a  remarkable  amount  of  information 
for  a  new  convert.    It  was  said  that  he  seemed  to  know 
more  about  it  than  Smith  himself.    Abundant  reason  for 
this  will  soon  be  shown.     Smith  claimed  to  have  been 
directed  by  an  angel  to  the  burial  place  of  a  stone  box  in 
which  was  a  volume  six  inches  thick  and  composed  of  thin 
gold  leaves,  eight  by  seven  inches,  fastened  together  by 
three  gold  rings.    The  writing  on  them  was  called  "Re- 
formed Egyptian."     There  was  also  a  pair  of  "super- 
natural spectacles,"  two  crystals,  that  Smith  called  "Urim 
and    Thummim,"    set    in    a    silver    bow.    When  Smith 
put  these  on  he  claimed  to  be  able  to  translate  the  reformed 
Egyptian  language.    I  have  heard  my  father-in-law,  then 
nineteen  years  old  and  still  living,  who  knew  Smith,  say 
that  he  was  scarcely  able  to  read  or  write  plain  English. 
He  characterizes  him  as  a  quick-witted,  lazy,  superstitious 
fellow,  who  spent  his  time  in  digging  for  treasures  and 
locating  springs  for  wells  with  a  divining  rod.    He  was 


3i2  THE   MORMON    MONSTER. 

just  the  man  for  Rigdon  to  attempt  to  use  as  a  tool, 
although  in  the  long  run  he  proved  too  shrewd  for  his 
former  master.  It  probably  will  never  be  known  why 
Rigdon  did  not  take  first  place  in  Mormonism.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  Smith  developed  better  qualities  of  leadership, 
and  it  is  probable  that  Rigdon  never  dared  offend  Smith 
for  fear  of  exposure  as  to  their  secret. 

Neither  Smith  nor  Rigdon  had  money  to  publish  this 
"Golden  Bible."  They  succeeded  in  interesting  a  well-to- 
do  farmer  named  Martin  Harris,  who  furnished  the 
means.  Oliver  Cowdery  was  employed  as  an  amanuensis. 
He  wrote  what  Smith  dictated  to  him  from  the  farther 
side  of  a  concealing  curtain.  In  1830  the  book  was  print- 
ed, and  with  it  a  sworn  statement  by  Cowdery,  Harris  and 
a  David  Whitmer,  that  an  angel  of  God  had  shown  them 
the  plates  of  which  the  book  purported  to  be  a  transla- 
tion. Some  years  later  these  three  men  renounced  Mor- 
monism and  declared  said  sworn  statement  false.  I  re- 
cently opened  the  Book  of  Mormon  that  lay  upon  the 
pulpit  in  the  Mormon  Tabernacle  at  Salt  Lake  City.  Upon 
its  page  was  this  sworn  statement  by  these  three  men,  but 
their  recantation  was  not  there.  The  Mormons  explain 
the  disappearance  of  the  "golden  leaves"  by  assuming  that 
an  angel  took  them  away.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have 
only  Joseph  Smith's  word  for  it,  aside  from  the  above 
statement,  that  they  ever  existed.  In  spite  of  this  a  lead- 
ing Mormon  told  me,  as  he  and  I  stood  by  Brigham 
Young's  grave  a  few  weeks  ago,  that  they  had  two  Bibles 
of  equal  authority.  One  contained  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  the  other  is  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

SIDNEY  RIGDON  WAS  JOSEPH  SMITH'S  ANGEL. 

Now  we  return  to  Pittsburgh.  In  1761,  Solomon 
Spaulding  was  born  in  Ashford,  Conn.,  and  was  gradu- 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3*3 

ated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1785.    Later  in  life  he 
lived  in  New'Salem  and  Conneaut,  Ohio.    There  he  wrote 
a  manuscript  which  he  called  "The  Manuscript  Found." 
He  read  it  to  numerous  of  his  relatives  and  friends.    Its 
leading  characters  bore  such  names  as  Mormon,  Moroni, 
Lamanite  and  Nephi.     It  divided  the  population  of  this 
continent  into  two  classes,  the  righteous  and  the  idola- 
trous, and  told  an  imaginary  story  of  the  discovery  of 
their  history  as  recorded  on  a  manuscript  that  was  cen- 
turies ago  concealed  in  the  earth.     It  was  full  of  wars 
and  rumors  of  wars  and  presented  a  record  of  the  preach- 
ing of  Christianity  in  America  during  the  first  century 
after  Christ.    Mr.  Spaulding  being  a  minister  and  familiar 
with  Bible  history,  made  his  romance  correspond  closely 
to  the  biblical  records  as  their  sequel.    In  1812  he  moved 
to  Pittsburgh.    Robert  Patterson  had  a  printing  establish- 
ment here ;  his  foreman  was  Silas  Engles.    Spaulding  de- 
sired Patterson  to  publish  his  work,  but  was  unable  to 
guarantee  the  expenses  if  the  book  should  prove  a  failure. 
Patterson  testified  that  he  saw  said  manuscript  and  told 
Engles  to  print  it  if  Spaulding  furnished  security  for  ex-^ 
penses     He  farther  testified  that  Spaulding  was  unable  to- 
do  so  and  that  he  supposed  that  Engles  returned  the 
manuscript  to  its  author.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  Spaulding 
moved  to  Amity,  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1814  and  died  there  in  1816.    Joseph  Miller,  of  Amity, 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Spaulding;  he  heard  him  read 
much  of  his  manuscript  and  testified  (see  Pittsburgh  Tele- 
graph in  1879)  to  Spaulding's  telling  him  that  while  he 
was  writing  a  preface  for  the  book  the  manuscript  was 
spirited  away,  that  a  Sidney  Rigdon  was  suspected  of  tak- 
ing it.    Miller  also  said  that  when  he  read  the  Book  of 
Mormon  he  at  once  recognized  Spaulding's  story.    Redick 


3i4  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

McKee,  of  Washington  County,  bears  the  same  testimony 
and  says  that  Rigdon  was  employed  in  Patterson's  office. 
Some  of  Rigdon's  friends  deny  that  he  was  employed 
there,  but  Mrs.  R.  J.  Eichbaum,  who  died  in  Pittsburg  in 
1882,  was  clerk  in  the  Pittsburgh  postoffice  from  181 1  to 
1816,  her  father  being  postmaster.  She  gave  testimony  to 
the  intimacy  between  Rigdon  and  Lamdin,  their  coming 
to  the  office  together,  and  Engles'  telling  her  that  "Rig- 
don was  always  hanging  about  the  printing  office."  It  is 
also  a  matter  of  fact  that  Lamdin  became  Patterson's 
business  partner  in  1818.  Spaulding's  widow  testified 
that  Rigdon  was  connected  with  the  office  in  some  way. 
It  seems  evident  that  Rigdon  was  about  the  office,  to  say 
the  least.  Six  years  later  he  returned  to  Pittsburgh  as 
the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church.  Patterson  had  died  in 
1814;  Lamdin  died  in  1825;  Engles  in  1827.  Rigdon's 
pastorate  was  while  both  were  yet  alive  and  he  was  inti- 
mate with  both. 

Rev.  John  Winter,  M.  D.,  known  to  many  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  testified  that  he  was  in  Rigdon's  study  in 
Pittsburg  in  the  winter  of  1822-3,  that  Rigdon  took  from 
his  desk  a  large  manuscript  and  said  in  substance :  "A 
Presbyterian  minister,  Mr.  Spaulding,  whose  health 
failed,  brought  this  to  the  printer  to  see  if  it  would  pay 
to  publish  it.  It  is  a  romance  of  the  Bible."  Rev.  A.  J. 
Bonsall,  now  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Rochester, 
Pa.,  tells  me  that  Dr.  Winter,  who  was  his  stepfather, 
often  referred  to  this  incident,  saying  that  the  manuscript 
purported  to  be  a  history  of  the  American  Indian,  and 
that  Rigdon  said  he  got  it  from  the  printers.  Mrs.  Mary 
W.  Irvine,  of  Sharon,  Pa.,  Dr.  Winter's  daughter,  says : 
"I  have  frequently  heard  my  father  speak  of  Rigdon's 
having  Spaulding's  manuscript,  that  he  said  he  got  it 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  315 

from  the  printer  to  read  as  a  curiosity.  As  such  he  showed 
it  to  my  father  and  then  seemed  to  have  no  intention  of 
using  it  as  he  evidently  afterward  did.  Father  always 
said  that  Rigdon  helped  Smith  in  his  scheme  by  revising 
and  transforming  this  manuscript  into  the  Mormon  Bible." 

As  late  as  1879  a  Mrs.  Amos  Dunlap,  of  Warren,  Ohio, 
wrote  of  having  visited  the  Rigdons  when  she  was  young 
and  of  his  taking  a  manuscript  from  his  trunk  and  becom- 
ing greatly  absorbed  in  it.  His  wife  threatened  to  burn  it, 
but  he  said,  "No,  indeed,  you  will  not ;  this  will  be  a  great 
thing  some  day." 

In  1820  the  Widow  Spaulding  married  Mr.  Davidson, 
of  Hartwick,  Otsego  County,  New  York;  in  May,  1839, 
the  Boston  Recorder  published  a  statement  from  her  made 
to  and  recorded  by  Rev.  D.  R.  Austin,  of  Monson,  Mass., 
to  the  effect  that  a  Mormon  preacher  took  a  copy  of  the 
Mormon  Bible  to  New  Salem,  Ohio,  where  her  husband 
had  lived  and  written  much  of  his  manuscript,  and  read 
from  it  at  a  public  meeting.  She  said  that  many  of  the 
older  people  immediately  recognized  it  as  her  husband's 
romance  and  that  his  brother,  John  Spaulding,  arose  then 
and  there  and  protested  against  such  a  use  of  his  late 
brother's  writings.  Rigdon  wrote  to  the  Boston  Recorder 
an  emphatic  and  coarse  denial  of  this  fact  and  said  that  he 
had  never  heard  of  such  a  man  as  Spaulding. 

The  reader  may  judge,  after  what  has  been  said, 
whether  he  ever  had.  In  August,  1880,  Scribner's  Month- 
ly published  some  testimony  from  Solomon  Spaulding's 
daughter,  Mrs.  M.  S.  McKinstry,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
She  certifies  to  the  same  facts  and  bears  testimony  to  the 
parallelism  between  the  Book  of  Mormon  and  her  father's 
romance.  Mrs.  President  Garfield's  father,  Mr.  Z.  Ru- 
dolph, knew  Rigdon  well  and  says  that  "during  the  win- 


316  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

ter  previous  to  the  appearance  of  the  Mormon  Bible  Rig- 
don  spent  weeks  away  from  home,  gone  no  one  knew 
where;  when  he  returned  he  seemed  very  much  pre- 
occupied, talked  in  a  dreamy,  imaginative  way,  and  puz- 
zled his  listeners.  His  joining  the  Mormons  so  quickly 
made  his  neighbors  sure  that  he  was  in  the  secret  of  the 
authorship  of  the  Book  of  Mormon."  The  book  was 
printed  in  the  office  of  the  Wayne  Sentinel,  Palmyra,  N. 
Y.  The  editor  was  Pomeroy  Tucker.  In  1867  he  printed 
a  book,  "Origin  and  Progress  of  Mormonism."  In  it  he 
says  that  during  the  summer  of  1827  (the  "Leaves  of 
Gold"  were  found  in  September,  1827)  a  stranger  made 
several  mysterious  visits  at  Smith's  home.  He  was  after- 
ward recognized  as  Rigdon,  who  afterward  preached  the 
first  Mormon  sermon  in  Palmyra.  This  statement  is 
corroborated  by  Mrs.  Dr.  Horace  Eaton,  who  lived  in 
Palmyra  for  more  than  thirty  years. 

Not  to  weary  patience,  let  me  say  that  testimony  has 
been  secured  from  many  others.  As  early  as  1835  Mr.  E. 
D.  Howe,  of  Painesville,  Ohio,  printed  the  full  testimony 
of  eight  reliable  witnesses,  such  persons  as  John  Spauld- 
ing  and  wife,  Martha;  Henry  Lake,  a  former  business 
associate  of  Solomon  Spaulding;  Oliver  Smith,  Aaron 
Wright,  and  Nahum  Howard,  all  of  Conneaut,  Ohio,  all 
of  whom  certified  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  and  Spauld- 
ing's  romance  were  in  substance  identical.  Finally,  Rig- 
don's  brother-in-law,  Rev.  Adam  Bently,  and  Alexander 
Campbell  both  testify  ("The  Millennial  Harbinger/' 
1844)  that  as  much  as  two  years  before  the  Mormon 
Bible  made  its  appearance  Rigdon  told  them  that  "such  a 
book  was  coming  out,  the  manuscript  of  which  had  been 
found  engraved  on  gold  plates."  In  spite  of  this  Rigdon 
claimed  that  he  first  heard  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  from 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3*7 

Parley  P.  Pratt  in  August,  1830.    In  the  light  of  this  evi- 
dence, whence  think  ye  came  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and 
what  is  its  claim  to  divine  authority?    Was  not  Rigdon 
Joseph  Smith's  angel? 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


APPENDIX  C. 

THE  TEMPLE  SERVICE. 

As  I  have  said,  no  one  is  admitted  to  the  Mormon  Tem- 
ple except  a  good  Mormon.  It  is  used  only  on  special 
occasions,  such  as  initiations,  marriages  and  baptisms. 
The  preaching  services  are  all  held  in  the  Tabernacle,  or 
in  the  ward  meeting  houses.  The  following  account  of  the 
ceremonies  which  took  place  in  the  Endowment  House, 
before  the  Temple  was  built,  is  taken  from  "An  English- 
woman in  Utah,"  by  Mrs.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse.  Mrs. 
Stenhouse  was  a  lady  of  much  culture  and  refinement, 
who  was  converted  to  Mormonism  in  England,  married 
a  Mormon  elder,  and  emigrated  to  Utah.  Her  husband 
was  quite  prominent  in  Mormon  circles  for  a  time.  But 
after  a  while  both  he  and  she  became  disgusted  with  it, 
and,  showing  too  much  independence  of  spirit,  they  were 
excommunicated,  along  with  W.  S.  Godbe,  E.  L.  T.  Har- 
rison, and  others.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stenhouse  have 
written  very  interesting  books  on  the  subject  of  Mor- 
monism.   I  leave  Mrs.  Stenhouse  to  tell  her  own  story : 

"MYSTERIES  OF  THE  ENDOWMENT  HOUSE — FEARFUL  OATHS 
AND  SECRET  CEREMONIES. 

"Not  many  weeks  after  our  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City 
my  husband  told  me  that  we  might  now  enjoy  the  privilege 
of  going  through  the  Endowment  House. 

"This  was  intended  as  a  great  favor  to  us,  on  the  part 
of  the  authorities,  for  most  people  have  to  wait  a  long 
while  before  receiving  their  endowments;  but  my  hus- 
band's influence  and  position  in  the  church  was,  I  pre- 
sume, the  reason  why  we  were  admitted  so  soon. 

318 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3*9 

"Now,  I  had  heard  so  much  of  the  endowments  and  the 
Endowment  House  that  I  quite  dreaded  to  pass  through 
this  ordeal.  The  idea  of  the  whole  ceremony  was,  that 
thereby  we  should  receive  the  special  grace  of  God;  be 
united,  man  and  woman,  making  one  perfect  creature; 
receive  our  inheritance  as  children  of  God ;  and,  in  fact, 
be  made  partakers  of  the  plenitude  of  every  blessing. 

"I  knew  well  that  no  marriage  was  considered  binding 
unless  it  had  been  celebrated  in  that  place.     I  knew  that 
the  Saints,  however  long  they  might  have  been  wedded, 
were  under  the  necessity  of  being  reunited  there  before 
they  could  be  considered  lawfully  married  and  their  chil- 
dren legitimate.  According  to  the  highest  Mormon  author- 
ity, no  marriage  is  valid  unless  the  ceremony  is  performed 
in  the  Temple.    The  Temple  is  not  yet  built,  and  as  Joseph 
the  Prophet  said :    'No  fellow  can  be  damned  for  doing 
the  best  he  knows  how,'  the  Saints  do  'the  next  best  thing' 
and  are  married  in  the  Endowment  House.     I  knew  that 
there  and  then  the  faithful  were  said  to  be  'endowed'  with 
their  heavenly  inheritance.    I  saw  how  absolutely  needful 
it  was  that  my  husband  and  myself  should  become  par- 
takers of  those  mysteries ;  but  I  was  influenced  by  the 
strange  stories  which   I  had  heard  of  unhallowed  and 
shameful  doings  in  that  same  Endowment  House,  and 
consequently  I  feared  to  enter  in. 

"My  fears  were  not,  however,  altogether  groundless  or 
visionary.  It  has  been  whispered— falsely,  perhaps— that 
in  that  Endowment  House  scenes  have  been  enacted  so 
fearful  that  words  would  falter  on  the  lips  of  those  who 
told  the  tale  concerning  them.  I  have  heard  of  such 
things  from  men  of  integrity  and  honor ;  but  they  were 
not  eye-witnesses  of  what  they  related,  and  they  could 
not,  or  would  not,  give  me  their  authorities.    One  thing 


32o  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

I  am  certain  of :  if  such  horrible  deeds  were  ever  perpe- 
trated within  those  walls,  there  remains  no  living  witness 
to  testify  of  them.  The  lips  of  those  who  alone  could  tell 
the  whole  truth  are  sealed  in  a  silence  which  the  trump  of 
doom  alone  shall  break. 

"It  was,  of  course,  no  fear  of  any  personal  violence  or 
any  painful  disclosures  in  that  respect,  that  made  me  re- 
luctant to  receive  my  endowments,  for  at  this  time  I  was 
by  profession  apparently  a  good  Mormon;  if  I  had  my 
doubts  and  misgivings,  I  had  them  in  common  with  nine- 
tenths  of  the  Mormon  women,  and  had  therefore  nothing 
to  fear.  The  true  cause  of  my  reluctance  was  of  a  more 
delicate  and  personal  nature.  I  had  been  informed  that,  if 
I  refused  to  go,  my  husband  could  not  go  alone ;  he  would 
be  compelled  to  take  another  wife,  and  go  with  her.  This 
was  not  all.  I  found  that  it  was  quite  common  for  the 
elders  to  take  a  second  wife  when  they  took  their  first 
endowments,  and  thus,  as  they  coarsely  expressed  it,  'kill 
two  birds  with  one  stone.'  Moreover,  I  had  heard  of  men 
who  feared  to  introduce  polygamy  into  their  households, 
presenting  to  their  wives,  while  going  through  the  House, 
a  young  girl  as  their  intended  bride,  feeling  sure  that  the 
wife  would  not  dare  to  make  a  scene  before  the 'Assembly. 
How  could  I  know  that  my  husband  also  had  not  such  an 
idea  in  his  mind  ?  True,  I  trusted  him  implicitly,  and  did 
not  believe  it  possible  that  he  could  deceive  me.  But  had 
not  men  who  were  universally  known  for  their  integrity 
and  honor  acted  in  the  same  way  to  their  wives ;  and  with 
s\d  many  evidences  of  the  best  and  most  honest  natures 
being  corrupted  by  the  unrighteous  teachings  of  their  re- 
ligion, could  I  be  blamed  for  doubting  him  whom  I  loved 
best? 

"There  was  also  another  reason  why  I  particularly  ob- 
jected to  passing  through  the  Endowment  House.    I  had 


THE   MORMON   MONSTER.  321 

been  told  many  strange  and  revolting  stories  about  the 
ceremonies  which  were  there  performed,  for  it  was  said 
that  in  the  Nauvoo  Temple  the  most  disgraceful  things 
were  done.    About  what  was  done  at  Nauvoo  I  can  say 
nothing,  as  it  was  before  my  time,  but  still  it  is  only  fair 
to  say  that  people  who,  in  every  other  relation  in  life,  1 
should  have  deemed  most  reliable  and  trustworthy,  were 
my  informants  respecting  those  strange  stories.    Of  the 
endowments  in  Utah  I  can,  of  course,  speak  more  posi- 
tively, as  I  myself  passed  through  them;  and  I  wish  to 
say  most  distinctly  that,  although  the  initiation  of  the 
Saints  into  'The  Kingdom'  appears  now  to  my  mind  as 
a  piece  of  the  most  ridiculous  absurdity,  there  was  never- 
theless, nothing  in  it  indecent  or  immoral-of  which  the 
reader  himself  shall  presently  be  the  judge. 

"It  is  an  invariable  rule  among  the  Mormons,  as  I  have 
before  intimated,  for  every  man  or  woman  to  mind  his  or 
her  own  business,  and  nothing  else.   Thus  it  was  that  until 
I  myself  went  through  the  endowments,  I  was  totally 
ignorant  of  what  they  were;  although,  of  course   many 
people  with  whom  I  had  daily  intercourse  could  easily 
have  enlightened  me  if  they  had  been  thus  minded.    Be- 
sides this,  every  Mormon's  mouth  was  closed  by  the  oath 
of  that  same  Endowment  Hduse— the  penalty  of  winch 
was  death,  a  penalty  which,  no  one  doubted,  would  be 
sternly  enforced.    Thus,  totally  in  the  dark,  and  remem- 
bering only  the  strange  stories  told  about  'washings  and 
'anointings'  and  an  imitation  of  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
with  Adam  and  Eve  clothed  in  their  own  innocence  alone, 
it  can  be  no  wonder  that  any  modest  woman  should  wish 
to  evade  all  participation  in  such  scenes. 

"I  spoke  to  my  husband  about  it,  and  he  tried  to  reas- 
sure me,  but  what  he  said  had  rather  a  contrary  effect. 


322  THE   MORMON    MONSTER. 

"Before  we  left  England,  when  speaking  of  these  cere- 
monies, my  husband  told  me  that  they  were  simply  a 
privilege  and  a  matter  of  choice.  But  what  a  choice !  I 
might  go  or  refuse  to  go ;  but,  if  I  refused,  he  must — if  he 
went  through  at  all — take  another  wife  in  my  place,  and, 
as  I  knew,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  finding  one.  I 
should  in  consequence  be  known  as  a  rebellious  woman ; 
annoyance  and  indignity  would  be  heaped  upon  me ;  while 
within  my  own  home  I  should  be  compelled  to  occupy  the 
position  of  second  wife — as  the  one  who  is  married  first  in 
the  Endowment  House  is  considered  the  first  wife,  and 
has  the  control  of  everything. 

"My  husband  told  me  that  now  he  was  most  anxious  to 
go;  he  had  already  been  notified  three  times  that  such  was 
his  privilege,  and  there  were,  he  said,  good  reasons  why 
we  ought  gladly  to  accept  the  opportunity.  It  was  an 
honor,  he  said,  for  which  many  people  had  waited  for 
years. 

"My  husband  reminded  me  that  we  had  been  married  by 
a  Gentile,  and  while  living  among  Gentiles,  and  that,  as  I 
said  before,  our  marriage  was  not  valid,  and  our  children 
were  not  legitimate.  Only  those  children  of  ours  who 
were  born  after  the  ceremony  in  the  Endowment  House 
would  be  legitimate;  the  others  were  outcasts  from  the 
'Kingdom''  unless  we  adopted  them  after  our  initiation, 
and  thus  made  them  heirs.  In  any  case,  poor  children, 
they  could  never  be  considered  the  real  heirs ;  they  could 
only  be  'heirs  by  adoption/ 

"So  I  agreed  to  go,  trying  to  persuade  myself  that  it 
was  a  sacred  duty ;  for,  although  my  faith  in  Mormonism 
had  been  roughly  shaken,  I  still  believed  that  its  origin 
was  divine. 

"The  Temple  robe,  which  is  a  long,  loose,  flowing  gar- 
ment, made  of  white  linen  or  bleached  muslin,  and  reach- 


STATUE    OF    BRIGHAM    YOUNG,   WITH    MORMON    TEMPLE 
IN   BACKGROUND. 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  323 

ing  to  the  ankle,  had  been  placed  upon  us  just  before  we 
took  the  oaths.  It  was  gathered  to  a  band  about  twelve 
inches  long,  which  rested  on  the  right  shoulder,  passed 
across  the  breast,  and  came  together  under  the  left  arm, 
and  was  then  fastened  by  a  linen  belt.  This  leaves  the 
left  arm  entirely  free.  The  veil  consists  of  a  large  square 
of  Swiss  muslin,  gathered  in  one  corner  so  as  to  form  a 
sort  of  cap  to  fit  the  head ;  the  remainder  falls  down  as  a 
veil.  The  men  wear  the  same  kind  of  undergarment  as  the 
women,  and  their  robes  are  the  same,  but  their  head-dress 
is  a  round  piece  of  linen  drawn  up  with  a  string  and  a  bow 
in  front,  something  after  the  fashion  of  a  Scotch  cap.  All 
good  Mormons,  after  they  have  received  their  first  endow- 
ments, get  whole  suits  of  Temple  robes  made  on  purpose 
for  them,  so  they  may  be  ready  for  use  at  any  time  when 
they  are  needed.  All  marriages  in  the  Endowment  House 
are  performed  in  these  robes,  and  in  them  all  Saints  who 
have  received  their  endowments  are  buried.  Besides  our 
robes  we  were  instructed  to  take  with  us  a  bottle  of  the 
best  olive  oil. 

"At  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  day  appointed, 
we  presented  ourselves  at  the  door  of  the  Endowment 
House,  and  were  admitted  by  Brother  Lyon,  the  Mormon 
poet.  Everything  within  was  neat  and  clean  and  a 
solemn  silence  pervaded  the  whole  place.  The  only 
sound  that  could  be  heard  was  the  splashing  of  water,  but 
whence  the  sound  proceeded  we  could  not  see.  In  spite 
of  myself,  a  feeling  of  dread  and  uncertainty  respecting 
what  I  had  to  go  through  would  steal  over  my  mind,  and 
I  earnestly  wished  that  the  day  was  over. 

"We  waited  patiently  for  a  little  while,  and  presently  a 
man  entered  and  seated  himself  at  a  table  placed  there  for 
that  purpose,  upon  which  was  a  large  book.    He  opened 


324  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

the  book,  and  then  calling  each  person  in  turn,  he  took 
their  names  and  ages,  and  the  names  of  their  fathers  and 
mothers,  and  carefully  entered  each  particular  in  the  book. 
Our  bottles  of  oil  were  then  taken  from  us,  and  we  were 
supposed  to  be  ready  for  the  ceremony. 

"First  we  were  told  to  take  off  our  shoes,  and  leave 
them  in  the  anteroom,  and  then  to  take  up  our  bundles 
and  pass  into  another  room  beyond.  This  was  a  large 
bathroom,  which  was  divided  down  the  middle  by  a  cur- 
tain of  heavy  material  placed  there  for  the  purpose  of 
separating  the  men  from  the  women.  Here  my  husband 
left  me — he  going  to  the  men's  and  I  to  the  women's 
division.  In  the  bathroom  were  two  or  three  large  bath- 
ing tubs  supplied  by  streams  of  hot  and  cold  water.  We 
were  as  much  concealed  from  the  men  as  if  we  had  been  in 
an  entirely  separate  room,  and  everything  was  very  quiet 
and  orderly. 

"Miss  Eliza  R.  Snow,  the  poetess,  and  a  Mrs.  Whitney, 
were  the  officiating  attendants  on  that  occasion.  The 
former  conducted  me  to  one  of  the  bathing  tubs,  and 
placing  me  in  it,  she  proceeded  to  wash  me  from  the 
crown  of  my  head  to  the  soles  of  my  feet.  As  she  did  this 
she  repeated  various  formulas  to  the  effect  that  I  was 
now  washed  clean  from  the  blood  of  this  generation  and 
should  never,  if  I  remained  faithful,  be  partaker  in  the 
plagues  and  miseries  which  were  about  to  come  upon  the 
earth.  When  I  had  thus  been  washed  clean,  she  wiped 
me  dry,  and  then  taking  a  large  horn  filled  with  the  olive 
oil  which  we  had  brought,  she  anointed  me.  The  oil  was 
poured  from  the  horn  by  Mrs.  Whitney,  into  the  hand  of 
Eliza  Snow,  who  then  applied  it  to  me.  The  horn  was 
said  to  be  the  horn  of  plenty,  which,  like  the  widow's 
cruse  of  oil,  would  never  fail  as  long  as  the  ordinance 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  325 

should  continue  to  be  administered.  In  addition  to  the 
crown  of  my  head,  my  eyes,  ears,  and  mouth  were  also 
anointed ;  my  eyes  that  they  might  be  quick  to  see,  my  ears 
that  they  might  be  apt  at  hearing,  and  my  mouth  that  I 
might  with  wisdom  speak  the  words  of  eternal  life.  She 
also  anointed  my  feet,  that  they  might  be  swift  to  run  in 
the  ways  of  the  Lord.  I  was  then  given  a  certain  garment 
to  put  on. 

"Now,  this  garment  is  one  peculiar  to  the  Mormon 
people.  It  is  made  so  as  to  envelop  the  whole  body,  and 
it  is  worn  night  and  day.  I  was  told  that  after  having 
once  put  it  on,  I  must  never  wholly  take  it  of!  before  put- 
ting on  another,  but  that  I  should  change  one-half  at  a 
time,  and  that  if  I  did  so  I  should  be  protected  from  dis- 
ease, and  even  from  death  itself;  for  the  bullet  of  an 
enemy  would  not  penetrate  that  garment,  and  that  from 
it  even  the  dagger's  point  should  be  turned  aside.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  Prophet  Joseph  carelessly  left  oft*  this 
peculiar  garment  on  the  day  of  his  death,  and  that,  had 
he  not  done  so,  the  rifles  of  his  assassins  would  have  been 
harmless  against  him. 

"When  thus  arrayed,  I  proceeded  to  put  on  a  white 
nightdress  and  skirt,  stockings,  and  white  linen  shoes.  A 
new  name  was  then  whispered  into  my  ear,  which  I  was 
told  I  must  never  mention  to  any  living  soul  except  my 
husband  in  the  Endowment  House.  This  name  was  taken 
from  the  Bible,  and  I  was  given  to  understand  that  it 
would  be  the  name  whereby  I  should  be  admitted  into  the 
celestial  kingdom.  This  was,  of  course,  very  gratifying. 
A  circumstance,  however,  occurred  which  took  from  me 
all  the  pride  which  might  have  been  mine  in  the  possession 
of  a  new  name.  There  was  among  our  number  a  deaf 
woman ;  Mrs.  Whitney  had  to  tell  her  her  name  once  or 


326  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

twice  over,  loud  enough  for  me  to  hear,  and  thus  I  found 
that  her  new  name,  as  well  as  mine,  was  Sarah.  To  make 
the  matter  worse,  another  sister  whispered,  "Why,  that  is 
my  name,  too."  This  entirely  dispelled  any  enthusiasm 
which  otherwise  I  might  have  felt.  I  could  well  under- 
stand that  I  might  yet  become  a  Sarah  in  Israel,  but  if  we 
all  were  Sarahs,  there  would  not  be  much  distinction  or 
honor  in  being  called  by  that  name.  As  a  matter  of 
course,  I  supposed  that  the  men  would  all  become  Abra- 
hams. 

"Our  washing  and  anointing  being  now  over,  we  were 
ready  for  the  initiation — there  were  about  fifteen  couples 
in  all. 

"A  voice  from  behind  the  curtain  asked  Miss  Snow  if 
we  were  ready,  and  was  answered  in  the  affirmative.  We 
were  then  arranged  in  a  row,  the  curtain  was  drawn 
aside,  and  we  stood  face  to  face  with  the  men,  who  had, 
of  course,  on  their  side  of  the  curtain  been  put  through 
the  same  ordeal.  I  felt  dreadfully  nervous,  for  1  did  not 
know  what  was  coming  next,  and  I  could  not  quite  dis- 
miss from  my  mind  the  stories  that  I  had  heard  about 
these  mysteries.  But  in  spite  of  my  nervousness,  curiosity 
was  strong  in  me  at  that  moment,  as  it  was,  I  suppose, 
in  the  others ;  for  as  soon  as  the  curtain  was  drawn  aside 
we  all  cast  our  eyes  in  the  direction  of  the  men.  They, 
as  might  be  expected,  were  looking  in  our  direction,  and 
when  I  beheld  them  I  must  say  that  my  sympathies  were 
drawn  out  towards  the  poor  creatures.  However  little 
vanity  or  personal  pride  they  possessed,  they  must  have 
felt  it  unpleasant  to  have  to  appear  in  the  presence  of 
ladies  in  such  a  dress — or  rather  Mwdress;  and  notwith- 
standing the  solemn  meaning  of  the  ceremony,  there  was 
just  the  ghost  of  a  smile  upon  our  faces  as  we  looked  at 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  327 

each  other  and  dropped  our  eyes  again.  To  anyone  who 
did  not  feel  as  we  did  the  religious  nature  of  the  initia- 
tion, the  scene  must  have  appeared  perfectly  ludicrous. 
In  fact,  some  of  us  felt  it  so.  One  sister,  just  as  the  cur- 
tain was  drawn  up  and  we  came  in  full  view  of  our  lords, 
cried  out,  "Oh  dear,  oh  dear,  where  shall  I  go?  What 
shall  I  do?"  This,  as  may  be  supposed,  caused  a  laugh, 
which  was,  of  course,  immediately  suppressed. 

"We  could  see  how  the  men  looked,  but  of  our  own 
appearance  we  could  not  so  easily  judge.  Certainly  we 
must  have  looked  anything  but  handsome  in  our  white 
garments,  and  with  the  oil  trickling  down  our  faces  and 
into  our  eyes,  making  them  smart  and  look  red.  There 
was  nothing,  however,  for  us  to  do  but  to  submit  quietly 
and  make  the  best  of  it  we  could.  Ashamed  as  I  was,  I 
thought  I  might  venture  to  look  at  my  husband;  there 
could  be  no  harm  in  that;  but  when  I  saw  his  demure- 
looking  countenance  and  his  efforts  to  keep  his  clothing 
in  order,  I  thought  I  should  be  compelled  to  laugh  out- 
right, for  I  could  see  that  his  thoughts  were  more  occu- 
pied about  his  personal  appearance  than  with  the  solemn- 
ity of  the  occasion.  The  men  were  all  dressed  in  the  same 
kind  of  garments  as  the  women — drawers  and  shirt  all  in 
one,  very  much  like  those  which  are  used  for  children  to 
sleep  in,  and  over  that  an  ordinary  white  shirt,  such  as 
men  always  wear ;  that,  with  socks  and  white  linen  shoes, 
completed  their  toilet. 

"Clad  after  this  interesting  fashion,  we  sat  opposite 
to  each  other  for  several  minutes,  and  then  my  husband 
and  myself  were  instructed  to  come  forward  and  kneel  at 
the  altar  while  all  the  rest  remained  standing.  It  is  the 
custom  thus  to  select  two  persons,  and  we  were  either 
picked  out  by  chance,  or  it  might  be,  as  my  husband  was 


328  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

thought  a  good  deal  of  by  the  authorities,  that  they  con- 
sidered he  would  feel  honored  by  the  preference. 

"Suddenly  a  voice  was  heard  speaking  to  someone,  who 
also  replied.  This  voice  from  the  unseen  was  supposed  to 
be  the  voice  of  Elohim  in  conversation  with  Jehovah,  and 
the  words  that  were  used  were  much  the  same  as  those 
contained  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  of  Genesis,  de- 
scribing the  creation  of  the  world.  Finally,  Jehovah  and 
Elohim  declare  their  intention  to  come  down  and  visit 
the  earth.  This  they  do,  and  pronounce  all  that  they  be- 
hold very  good;  but  they  declare  that  it  is  necessary  that 
one  of  a  higher  order  of  intelligence  than  the  brute  crea- 
tion should  be  placed  in  the  world  to  govern  and  control 
all  else. 

"Michael  the  Archangel  is  now  called,  and  he  is  placed 
upon  the  earth  under  the  name  of  Adam,  and  power  is 
given  him  over  all  the  beasts  of  the  field,  the  fowls  of  the 
air,  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea.  Moreover,  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  are  all  given  to  him  for  his  sustenance  and  pleasure ; 
but  he  is  strictly  charged,  as  in  Bible  story,  not  to  eat  of 
one  particular  tree  which  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  gar- 
den. This  tree  is  represented  by  a  small  real  evergreen, 
and  a  few  bunches  of  dried  raisins  are  hung  upon  it  as 
fruit. 

"It  is  now  discovered  that  it  is  not  good  for  man  to  be 
alone ;  Elohim  and  Jehovah,  therefore,  hold  another  con- 
versation upon  that  subject,  and  they  finally  determine  to 
give  a  companion  to  Adam.  They  therefore  cause  a  deep 
sleep  to  fall  upon  Michael— or  Adam  as  he  is  now  called— 
and  they  prepare  to  operate  upon  him.  Here  we  are  all 
instructed  to  assume  the  attitude  of  deep  sleep  by  drop- 
ping our  heads  upon  our  breasts.  Elohim  and  Jehovah 
then  come  down  and  go  through  the  motions  of  removing 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3*9 

a  rib  from  the  side  of  the  sleeper,  which  said  rib  appears 
immediately  upon  the  scene  in  the  person  of  Eliza  R. 
Snow.  Elohim  and  Jehovah  are  generally  represented  by 
two  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  When  Brigham  is  present 
he  plays  a  prominent  part. 

"And  now  the  devil  makes  his  appearance  in  the  person 
of  W.  W.  Phelps.  Phelps  used  always  to  personate  the 
devil  in  the  endowments,  and  the  role  suited  him  ad- 
mirably. He  is  dead  now,  but  whether  it  has  made  any 
difference  in  his  status  I  cannot  tell.  Nor  do  I  know  who 
has  succeeded  him  in  his  office.  The  devil  wears  a 
very  tight-fitting  suit  of  black  muslin,  with  knee  breeches 
and  black  stockings  and  slippers.  This  dress  had  all  the 
appearance  of  a  theatrical  costume,  and  the  man  looked  as 
much  like  what  one  might  imagine  the  devil  would  look  as 
he  possibly  could.  He  began  by  trying  to  scrape  ac- 
quaintance with  Eve,  whom  he  meets  while  taking  a  walk 
in  the  garden.  The  innocent,  unsuspecting  woman  is 
fascinated  by  his  attentions.  Father  Adam— who  seems 
to  have  had  a  touch  of  the  Mormon  about  him— perhaps 
was  not  the  most  attentive  of  husbands ;  or  he  may  have 
made  the  same  mistake  as  that  which  so  many  of  his  sons 
have  since  made— neglecting  to  pay  the  same  attentions 
after  marriage  as  he  was  wont  to  before — and  left  his 
young  wife  to  the  mercy  of  the  tempter.  However  that 
may  be,  Satan  and  Eve  are  soon  discovered  in  conversa- 
tion together,  and  Eve  appears  to  be  particularly  pleased 
with  Satan.  At  length  he  offers  her  some  of  the  fruit  of 
the  forbidden  tree,  and  after  some  little  demur  she  accepts 
it  and  eats  thereof. 

"Then  the  devil  leaves  her,  Adam  makes  his  appearance, 
and  Eve  persuades  him  also  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree. 
After  this  they  make  a  dumb  show  of  perceiving  their  con- 


330  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

dition,  and  an  apron  of  white  linen  is  produced,  on  which 
are  sewn  pieces  of  green  silk,  in  imitation  of  fig  leaves, 
and  in  these  they  both  attire  themselves. 

'Then  all  the  brethren  and  sisters  produce  similar 
aprons  which  they  had  brought  with  them  on  purpose,  and 
these  they  put  on,  as  Adam  and  Eve  had  already  done. 
Elohim  now  appeared  again,  and  called  Adam ;  but  Adam 
was  afraid,  and  hid  himself  in  the  garden  with  Eve.  The 
curse  was  now  pronounced  upon  the  serpent — the  devil — 
who  reappears  upon  his  hands  and  knees,  making  a  hiss- 
ing noise  as  one  might  suppose  a  serpent  would  do.  We 
were  then  all  driven  out  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  into  an- 
other room,  which  represented  the  world — and  this  ended 
the  'First  Degree.' 

"We  were  now  supposed  to  be  out  in  the  world,  earning 
our  daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of  our  brows,  and  we  were 
informed  that  although  we  had  been  driven  out  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  yet  a  plan  of  salvation  would  be 
devised  for  us,  by  which  we  should  be  enabled  to  return 
to  our  first  estate.  We  are  to  wait  patiently  until  this 
plan  should  be  disclosed  to  us. 

"There  was  here  such  a  mixture  of  persons  and  events 
that  I  could  not  exactly  follow  the  idea  that  was  intended 
to  be  conveyed — if  there  was  any  idea  at  all.  Men  repre- 
senting the  ancient  prophets  entered,  and  gave  instruc- 
tions to  the  people  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  first  com- 
ing of  our  Savior  upon  earth.  Then  we  were  taught  cer- 
tain passwords  and  grips ;  and  then  we  were  all  arranged 
in  a  circle.  The  women  covered  their  faces  with  their 
veils,  and  we  all  kneeled  down,  and,  with  our  right  hands 
uplifted  towards  heaven,  we  took  the  solemn  oath  of  obe- 
dience and  secrecy.  (I  myself  made  a  movement  with  my 
hand— for  I  believed  that  my  life  was  at  stake,  and  I  dared 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  33* 

not  do  otherwise.  The  words  of  the  oath  I  did  not  utter. 
See  explanation  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.)  We  swore 
that  by  every  means  in  our  power  we  would  seek  to 
avenge  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet,  upon  the 
Gentiles  who  had  caused  his  murder,  and  that  we  would 
teach  our  children  to  do  so ;  we  swore,  that  without  mur- 
mur or  questioning,  we  would  implicitly  obey  the  com  • 
mands  of  the  priesthood  in  everything;  we  swore  that  we 
would  not  commit  adultery— which,  with  reference  to  the 
men,  was  explained  to  mean  the  taking  of  wives  without 
the  permission  of  the  holy  priesthood ;  and  we  swore  that 
we  would  never,  under  any  circumstances,  reveal  that 
which  transpired  in  the  Endowment  House. 

"The  penalty  for  breaking  this  oath,  which  was  worded 
in  the  most  startling  and  impressive  way,  was  then  ex- 
plained to  us.  His  bowels  were— while  he  was  yet  liv- 
ing—to be  torn  from  him,  his  throat  was  to  be  cut  from 
ear  to  ear,  and  his  heart  and  tongue  were  to  be  cut  out. 
In  the  world  to  come,  everlasting  damnation  would  be  his 

portion. 

"Let  not  the  reader  think  that  this  was  merely  an 
imaginary  penalty,  or  that  it  was  expressed  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  frightening  the  weak-minded ;  for,  as  will 
be  shown,  punishments  quite  as  horrible  as  that  have  been 
deliberately  meted  out  to  the  Apostate,  the  Gentile,  and 
the  suspected  Saint,  by  the  Mormon  Priesthood.  The 
innocent  blood  which  cries  for  vengeance  against  Brig- 
ham  Young  and  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  church  is  suffi- 
cient to  weigh  the  purest  spirit  which  stands  before  the 
throne  of  God  down  to  the  nethermost  abysses  of  hell. 

"After  these  fearful  oaths  had  been  taken  with  due 
solemnity,  we  were  instructed  in  the  various  signs  repre- 
senting those  dreadful  penalties ;  and  we  were  also  given  a 
'grip'  peculiar  to  this  degree. 


332  THE   MORMON    MONSTER. 

"We  were  next  entertained  by  a  long  address  from  the 
Apostle  Heber  C.  Kimball.  Never  in  my  life— except  from 
Brigham  Young — have  I  listened  to  such  disgusting  lan- 
guage, and  I  trust  I  never  shall  be  compelled  to  listen  to 
anything  like  it  again.  Brother  Kimball  always  used  to 
pride  himself  upon  using  'plain'  language,  but  that  day  I 
think  he  surpassed  himself;  he  seemed  to  take  quite  a 
pleasure  in  saying  anything  which  could  make  us  blush. 
The  subject  of  which  he  discoursed  was  the  married  life  in 
the  'Celestial  Order';  he  also  laid  great  stress  upon  the 
necessity  of  our  keeping  silence  concerning  all  that  we 
had  witnessed  in  the  Endowment  House — even  husbands 
to  their  wives,  and  wives  to  their  husbands,  were  not  to 
utter  a  single  word.  With  the  sermon  ended  our  'Second 
Degree.' 

"We  were  now  taken  to  another  room  for  the  purpose 
of  passing  through  the  'Third  Degree'  of  the  Order  of  the 
Melchisedec  Priesthood.  When  all  were  arranged  on  one 
side  against  the  wall,  a  number  of  individuals  entered 
who  were  supposed  to  represent  the  ministers  of  every 
denomination  and  religion  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
devil  also  makes  his  appearance  again.  The  ministers  set 
forth  the  various  claims  of  their  respective  creeds — each 
one  striving  to  show  that  his  is  the  purest  and  the  best — 
but  the  devil  sows  division  and  hatred  among  them,  and  a 
good  deal  of  confusion  ensues. 

"Then  came  in  personages  representing  Peter,  James, 
and  John,  the  Apostles ;  and  they  commanded  ministers, 
devil  and  all  to  depart.  They  then  appeared  to  organize 
a  new  church,  in  which  the  true  principles  of  the  Gospel 
were  to  be  taught ;  our  Temple  robes  were  also  all  changed 
from  the  right  shoulder  to  the  left,  indicating  that  we 
were  now  in  the  true  church,  and  that  we  were  to  be 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  333 

absolutely  and  in  every  way  dependent  upon  the  priest- 
hood. Another  grip  was  then  given  to  us,  and  thus  we 
received  the  third  degree  of  the  Order  of  Melchisedec 
Priesthood.  In  that  room  was  a  division  made  of  bleached 
muslin ;  in  the  division  a  door,  and  in  the  door  a  hole,  with 
a  lap  of  muslin  over  it,  through  which  to  pass  the  hand. 
Whoever  was  on  the  other  side  could  see  us,  but  we  could 
not  see  them.  The  men  first  approached  this  door.  A 
person  representing  the  Apostle  Peter  appeared  at  the 
opening  and  demanded  who  was  there.  He  was  told  that 
someone  desired  to  enter.  Hands  came  through  the  open- 
ing in  the  muslin  curtain,  and  mysterious  fingers  cut  a 
mark  on  the  left  breast  of  the  men's  shirts— one  mark  also 
over  the  abdomen,  and  one  over  the  right  knee — which 
marks  the  women  religiously  imitated  upon  their  own  gar- 
ments when  they  got  home.  The  applicant  was  then  told 
to  put  his  hand  through  the  opening,  and  give  the  last 
grip  belonging  to  the  'Third  Degree/  and  mention  his 
new  name.  He  was  then  permitted  to  enter.  This  wa? 
called  'going  behind  the  veil.'  When  the  men  were  all 
admitted,  the  women  were  suffered  to  approach,  and  were 
passed  through  by  their  own  husbands.  When  a  woman 
has  no  husband  she  is  passed  through  by  one  of  the 
brethren,  and  to  those  who  are  not  going  to  be  married 
or  sealed  for  eternity  here  the  ceremonies  end. 

"Now,  as  I  before  stated,  according  to  Mormon  ideas 
we  had  never  before  been  legally  married.  It  was  there- 
fore necessary  that  we  should  now  pass  through  that 
ceremony.  We  accordingly  were  conducted  to  a  desk, 
where  our  names  were  entered,  and  we  were  then  passed 
into  another  room.  In  that  room  was  a  long,  low  altar, 
covered  with  red  velvet,  and  an  armchair  placed  at  one 
end  of  it,  in  which  sat  Brigham  Young.     My  husband 


334  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

knelt  at  one  side  of  the  altar  and  I  at  the  other,  with  our 
hands  clasped  above  it  in  the  last  grip  which  had  been 
given  to  us.  Then  the  ordinary  formula  of  marriage  was 
gone  through  with,  and  we  were  informed  that  we  were 
sealed  for  time  and  eternity. 

"Thus  we  passed  through  the  mysteries  of  the  Endow- 
ment House,  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we 
found  ourselves  at  liberty  to  return  home.  The  various 
ceremonies  had  occupied  eight  hours. 

"When  we  reached  home,  my  husband  said/Well,  what 
do  you  think  of  the  endowments  ?'  But  I  did  not  dare  to 
answer  him  truthfully  at  that  time.  Had  I  done  so,  I 
should  have  told  him  that  I  was  ashamed  and  disgusted. 
Never  in  all  my  life  did  I  suffer  such  humiliation  as  I  did 
that  day ;  for  the  whole  time  I  was  under  the  impression 
that  those  who  officiated  looked  upon  us  as  a  set  of  silly 
dupes,  and  I  felt  annoyed  to  think  that  I  dared  not  tell 
them  so.  So  I  told  my  husband  that  I  would  rather  not 
speak  about  it,  and  we  never  have  spoken  of  it  to  this  day. 
What  were  his  own  feelings  about  the  matter  I  do  not 
know,  for  Mormon  wives  are  taught  never  to  pry  into 
their  husband's  feelings  or  meddle  with  their  actions. 
But  notwithstanding  all  my  feelings  in  reference  to  the 
endowments,  so  foolish  was  I  that  when  I  afterwards 
heard  the  brethren  and  sisters  talking  about  the  hap- 
piness which  they  had  experienced  while  going  through, 
and  saying  how  privileged  we  ought  to  feel  at  being  in 
Zion  among  the  Saints  of  God,  secure  in  His  Kingdom 
where  we  could  bring  up  our  children  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  I  began  again  to  think  that  the  fault  was  all  in 
myself,  and  that  it  was  I  who  was  wrong  and  not  the 
endowments.  I  wondered  how,  with  such  a  rebellious 
heart,  I  should  ever  get  salvation,  and  I  mourned  to  think 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  335 

that  I  had  not  accepted  everything  with  the  simplicity  of  a 

child. 

"Some  time  after  our  initiation  I   met  the  Apostle 
Heber  C.  Kimball,  and  he  asked  me  how  I  felt  upon  the 
occasion.     I  frankly  told  him  all,  but  added  that  I  re- 
gretted feeling  so.    He  said,  'I  shall  see  if  you  cannot  go 
through  again;  it  is  not  just  the  thing,  and  I  shall  try  and 
make  the  opportunity.'  Nothing  more,  however,  was  said 
about  it.    But  that  which  troubled  me  most  was  the  fact 
that  while  the  oaths  were  being  administered,  I  dropped 
my  hand  and  inwardly  vowed  that  I  would  never  sub- 
scribe to  such  things,  and  at  the  same  time  my  heart  was 
filled  with  bitter  opposition.    This,  although  I  did  it  in- 
voluntarily—my better  nature  rising  within  me,  and  over- 
coming my  superstition— I  thought  at  the  time  was  sinful. 
I  now,  however,  rejoice  that  such  was  the  case;  for  not 
having  actually  vowed  to  keep  secret  those  abominable 
oaths,  I  can  say,  without  any  cavil  or  equivocation,  that  I 
have  broken  no  promise  and  betrayed  no  trust  by  the  rev- 
elations which  I  have  just  made." 

To  the  above  account  I  may  only  add  that  these  cere- 
monies now  take  place  in  the  Temple,  and  I  was  told  by  an 
ex-Mormon  in  Salt  Lake  City  that  they  are  practically  the 
same  as  those  related  by  Mrs.  Stenhouse,  except  that  they 
are,  perhaps,  still  more  coarse  and  vulgar. 


APPENDIX  D. 
SOME  EXPERIENCES  OF  A  MORMON  WOMAN. 

Mrs.  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse  thus  tells  her  experience  when 
her  husband,  under  the  counsel  of  the  Mormon  leaders, 
decided  to  take  another  wife,  so  as  to  "build  up  the  king- 
dom": 

"The  dreaded  day  at  length  arrived,  the  day  which  for 
so  long,  and  with  such  painful  forebodings,  I  had  antici- 
pated. I  had  spent  a  very  wakeful  and  unhappy  night, 
and  felt  very  sick  and  nervous,  for  I  was  about  to  become 
a  mother,  and  my  health  was  anything  but  strong.  I 
hardly  felt  as  if  I  should  have  courage  to  go  through  that 
day.  I  was,  however,  compelled  to  nerve  myself  to  the 
task,  and  I  began  to  make  my  preparations  for  going  to 
the  Endowment  House. 

"Ever  since  I  had  first  embraced  Mormonism  I  had 
been  entirely  cut  off  from  Gentile  society,  although  living 
in  the  Gentile  world.  Abroad,  and  also  when  in  New 
York,  the  cares  of  a  family  kept  me  very  much  at  home, 
and  the  continual  state  of  apprehension  in  which  I  was 
rendered  me  averse  to  visiting  among  friends.  Thus  it 
was  that  I  never  conversed  freely  with  anyone  who  could 
have  informed  me  truthfully  of  the  origin  of  Mormonism, 
and  consequently  I  brooded  over  my  religion  as  a  melan- 
choly fact;  but,  though  with  moments  of  weakness  and 
wavering,  I  never  thoroughly  doubted  its  divine  origin. 
The  terrible  sacrifice  which  was  about  to  be  required  of 
me  might,  I  thought,  be  painful  to  make,  but  it  was  no 
less  the  will  of  God.  I  must  submit,  whatever  the  effort 
might  cost  me. 

33<> 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  337 

"The  morning  was  bright  and  lovely — a  morning  cal- 
culated to  inspire  happy  hopes  and  pleasant  feelings ;  but 
to  me  it  brought  nothing  but  fear  and  trembling.  Even 
the  innocent  prattle  of  my  children  annoyed  me,  and 
they,  not  knowing  how  deeply  I  was  suffering,  looked 
at  me  with  wonder  in  their  eyes.  Oh,  I  thought,  surely 
my  husband  will  at  length  comprehend  the  greatness  of 
the  love  I  bear  him?  Surely  he  will  now  appreciate 
the  sacrifice  I  make  for  his  sake  and  for  my  religion? 
Even  now,  if  I  did  not  know  that  he  believes  this  doctrine 
to  be  true,  and  he  would  feel  condemned  if,  through  any 
opposition  of  mine,  he  were  not  allowed  to  practice  it,  I 
would  at  the  last  moment  dash  this  bitter  cup  from 
my  lips  and  take  my  chance  of  the  consequences  in  a  fu- 
ture state ! 

"Utterly  cast  down  and  broken-hearted,  I  felt  almost  as 
if  the  Lord  Himself  had  forsaken  me,  and  there  was  no 
one  to  whom  I  could  look  for  aid.  I  could  not  go  to  my 
husband  in  that  hour  for  sympathy ;  for  I  well  knew  that 
his  thoughts  must  be  with  his  intended  bride,  and  that  my 
sorrows  would  only  trouble  him  at  a  time  when  he  must 
desire  to  be  at  peace.  Besides  which,  I  was  too  proud  to 
plead  for  love  at  a  shrine  that  I  felt  should  rightfully  be 
all  my  own.  And  then,  too,  I  knew  not  but  what  he  might 
tell  her  of  my  feelings ;  and  it  would  be  too  great  a  humili- 
ation for  me  should  she  think  me  jealous  of  the  position 
which  she  now  occupied,  and  her  influence  over  my  hus- 
band. 

"With  such  feelings  I  went  to  the  Endowment  House. 
There  at  the  altar  I  was  to  give  proof  of  my  obedience 
and  of  my  faith  in  my  religion,  by  placing  the  hand  of 
the  new  wife  in  that  of  my  husband.  The  thought  was 
almost  madness.    To  have  followed  my  husband  to  the 


338  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

grave  would  bave  been  a  terrible  blow  to  me,  but  to  live 
to  see  him  the  husband  of  another  woman  was  something 
that  seemed  to  me  beyond  endurance.  Notwithstanding 
every  effort  of  faith,  doubts  would  arise,  and  in  bitterest 
anguish  I  thought — this  is  more  like  the  work  of  cruel 
man  than  of  God.  Why  should  man  have  this  power  over 
woman,  and  she  so  helpless?  Surely  a  just  and  impartial 
God  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  !  There  was  a  dark- 
ness before  my  eys,  and,  struggle  as  I  might,  I  could  see 
no  ray  of  light,  no  glimmering  of  hope. 

"Brigham  Young  performed  the  ceremony.  He  sat 
at  the  end  of  the  altar  and  we  three  knelt  down — my  hus- 
band on  one  side,  and  Miss  Pratt  and  myself  on  the 
other.  Speaking  to  me,  Brigham  Young  asked:  'Are 
you  willing  to  give  this  woman  to  your  husband  to  be  his 
lawful  wife  for  time  and  for  all  eternity?  If  you  are, 
you  will  signify  it  by  placing  her  right  hand  within  the 
right  hand  of  your  husband.' 

"I  did  so,  but  what  words  can  describe  my  feelings? 
The  anguish  of  a  whole  lifetime  was  crowded  into  that 
one  single  moment.  The  painful  meaning  of  those  words, 
'for  all  eternity,'  withered  my  soul,  and  the  unending  con- 
tract which  my  husband  had  made  with  another  woman 
was  practically  a  divorce  from  me.  I  had  now  laid  every- 
thing upon  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  for  I  had  given  away  my 
husband.  What  more  could  the  Lord  require  of  me  that 
I  was  not  prepared  to  do  ? 

"I  was  bewildered  and  almost  beside  myself,  and  yet  I 
had  to  hide  my  feelings.  Hope  was  forever  banished 
from  my  life.  To  whom  could  I  look  for  sympathy 
among  those  who  were  around  me  ?  They  were  most  of 
them  men  who  had  ruthlessly  wrecked  the  lives  and  lacer- 
ated the  hearts  of  hundreds  of  women  before  my  turn 
came,  and  the  sight  of  an  unhappy  wife  was  so  common 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  339 

in  their  experience  that  it  was  more  likely  to  awaken  their 
anger  than  their  pity.  I  felt  this  instinctively,  and  I  re- 
solved that  they  should  never  know  how  much  my  poor 
heart  was  torn.  My  husband,  it  is  true,  was  there.  My 
husband!  Was  he  not  now  the  husband  of  another 
woman,  and  therefore  no  longer  belonging  to  me?  I 
knew  that  I  never  could  overcome  my  early  teaching  suffi- 
ciently to  feel  that  this  was  right,  though  such  was  my 
wretched  fanaticism  that  I  mentally  and  verbally  assented 
to  it.  I  felt  that  now  I  stood  alone — our  union  was  sev- 
ered; there  could  never  be  any  copartnership  between 
that  other  wife  and  myself — no,  never !  Salvation  or  no 
salvation,  it  was  impossible  that  I  could  ever  love  her. 
From  that  day  I  began  to  hide  all  my  sorrows  from  my 
husband,  and  it  was  but  very  seldom  that  I  uttered  a 
word  of  discontent,  and  when  I  expressed  what  I  felt,  it 
was  in  anger ;  but  never  in  sorrow  seeking  sympathy. 

"I  remembered  when  we  returned  home — that  home 
which  had  now  lost  its  charm,  for  the  young  wife  was  to 
live  there — my  husband  said  to  me :  'You  have  been  very 
brave,  but  it  is  not  so  hard  to  bear,  after  all,  is  it  ?'  I  had 
hidden  my  feelings  so  well  that  he  really  thought  that  I 
was  indifferent.  But  during  the  remainder  of  the  day, 
how  I  watched  their  looks  and  noticed  every  word!  To 
me  their  tender  tones  were  daggers,  piercing  my  heart  and 
filling  me  with  a  desire,  to  revenge  myself  upon  the  father 
of  my  children.  Oh,  what  fanatics  we  Mormon  women 
have  been  ever  to  have  believed  for  a  single  moment  that 
a  just  and  loving  Father  and  God  would  have  given  a 
command  that  in  almost  every  instance  has  produced  such 
fearful  results  upon  those  who  should  have  been  happy 
wives  and  mothers,  and  consequently  upon  their  children ! 
Indeed,  even  then  it  made  me  feel  that  there  was  no 


340  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

justice  in  heaven,  if  this  love  which  is  the  best  part  of 
woman's  nature — this  love  that  we  had  always  believed 
was  a  part  of  divinity  itself — this  principle,  without  which 
there  would  be  nothing  worth  living  for — if  this  was  to 
be  our  greatest  curse,  and  the  woman  who  showed  herself 
most  actuated  by  this  gentle  influence  was  to  be  the  great- 
est victim. 

"I  felt  that  day  that  if  I  could  not  get  away  by 
myself  alone  and  give  expression  to  my  overcharged  feel- 
ings, I  should  certainly  lose  my  reason.  I  was  utterly 
miserable.  It  was  only  in  the  dead  of  night,  in  my  own 
chamber,  that  I  gave  way  to  the  terrible  anguish  that  was 
consuming  me.  God  and  my  own  soul  can  alone  bear 
witness  to  what  I  suffered  in  that  time  of  woe.  That 
night  was  to  me  such  as  even  the  most  God-forsaken 
might  pray  never  to  know ;  and  morning  dawned  without 
my  having  for  a  moment  closed  my  eyes." 

In  illustration  of  how  Mormon  women  regard  polygamy 
Mrs.  Stenhouse  presents  this  picture  : 

"Let  me  ask  the  good  brethren  who  read  this  to  act  for 
once  impartially,  and  try  to  put  themselves  in  a  woman's 
place ;  and  let  me  for  their  benefit  draw  a  little  picture  for 
them  to  contemplate. 

"It  is  evening,  and  the  family  are  all  assembled  in  their 
pleasant  home — a  home  made  happy  by  the  kind  and 
thoughtful  care  of  a  loving  father.  Peace  and  tranquillity 
dwell  in  every  heart,  and  the  father  is  happy  in  being 
surrounded  by  his  children,  to  whom  he  is  fondly  attached. 
He  listens  to  the  prattle  of  the  little  ones,  or  the  music 
and  songs  of  the  elder  children ;  and  for  a  time  he  is  for- 
getful of  everything  save  the  happiness  of  the  hour. 

"Suddenly  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  children,  whom 
he  dearly  loves,  rises  from  her  seat  beside  the  fire  and 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  341 

retires  to  her  own  apartment.  There  she  arranges  her 
toilet  with  irreproachable  care,  sees  that  every  straying 
curl  is  in  its  place,  and  gives  every  touch  to  her  appear- 
ance which  she  thinks  is  likely  to  render  her  attractive 
in  the  eyes  of  a  man.  She  now  descend:  the  stairs,  ready 
to  leave  the  home  of  this,  her  first  husband,  for  she  is 
going  to  see  her  second  husband,  or  some  young  man  to 
whom  she  has  taken  a  fancy,  and  who  she  thinks  would 
be  suitable  for  a  third.  She  kisses  her  children  good-bye, 
and  is  about  to  take  an  affectionate  farewell  of  their 
father,  when  she  suddenly  discovers  that  he  is  not  looking 
happy.  'What  is  the  matter  now  ?'  she  says ;  'is  not  your 
home  a  pleasant  one?  Have  I  not  taken  pains  to  train 
your  children  in  a  proper  manner,  and  have  I  not  remained 
an  hour  longer  than  usual  with  you  ?  What  folly  it  is  for 
you  to  be  moping  in  this  way !  This  is  not  the  way  to  live 
our  religion,  if  we  expect  to  get  the  blessing  of  God.  You 
know  very  well  it  is  very  painful  for  me  to  leave  you  and 
my  children;  but  we  must  be  obedient  to  the  commands 
of  God,  and  I  owe  attentions  to  my  other  husband  as  well 
as  to  you!' 

"Can  any  man  be  supposed  who  would  for  a  moment 
endure  such  an  outrage  upon  decency  and  common  sense, 
such  a  violation  of  all  that  is  sacred  in  the  human  heart  ? 
And  yet  this  is  only  reversing  the  case ;  and  just  as  any 
Mormon  man  can  suppose  he  would  feel,  if  the  wife  he 
loved  were  to  act  in  the  way  I  have  described,  so  do 
Mormon  wives  feel,  only  as  much  more  acutely,  as  women 
are  more  sensitive  in  their  affections  than  men." 


APPENDIX  E. 

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE— COM- 
PLETE CONFESSION  OF  MAJOR 
JOHN  D.  LEE. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1857,  the  company  of 
emigrants,  known  as  the  "Arkansas  Company,"  arrived 
at  Parowan,  Iron  county,  Utah,  on  their  way  to  California. 
At  Parowan  young  Aden,  one  of  the  company,  saw  and 
recognized  one  William  Laney,  a  Mormon  resident  of 
Parowan.  Aden  and  his  father  had  rescued  Laney  from 
an  anti-Mormon  mob  in  Tennessee  several  years  before, 
and  saved  his  life.  He  (Laney)  at  the  time  he  was 
attacked  by  the  mob  was  a  Mormon  missionary  in  Tennes- 
see. Laney  was  glad  to  see  his  friend  and  benefactor, 
and  invited  him  to  his  house  and  gave  him  some  "garden 
sauce"  to  take  back  to  the  camp  with  him.  The  same 
evening  it  was  reported  to  Bishop  (Colonel)  Dame  that 
Laney  had  given  potatoes  and  onions  to  the  man  Aden, 
one  of  the  emigrants.  When  the  report  was  made  to 
Bishop  Dame  he  raised  his  hand  and  crooked  his  little 
finger  in  a  significant  manner  to  one  Barney  Carter,  his 
brother-in-law,  and  one  of  the  "Angels  of  Death."  Carter, 
without  another  word,  walked  out,  went  to  Laney's  house 
with  a  long  picket  in  his  hand,  called  Laney  out  and 
struck  him  a  heavy  blow  on  the  head,  fracturing  his  skull, 
and  left  him  on  the  ground  for  dead.  C.  Y.  Webb  and 
Isaac  Naoman,  President  of  the  "High  Council,"  both 
told  me  they  saw  Dame's  manoeuvres.  James  McGufTee, 
then  a  resident  of  Parowan,  but  through  oppression  has 

34* 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  343 

been  forced  to  leave  there  and  is  now  a  merchant  in 
Pahranagat  Valley,  near  Pioche,  Nev.,  knows  these  facts. 
About  the  last  of  August,  1857,  some  ten  days  before  the 
Mountain  Meadows  Massacre,  the  company  of  emigrants 
passed  through  Cedar  City.    George  A.  Smith,  then  first 
counselor  in  the  church  and  Brigham  Young's  right-hand 
man,  came  down  from  Salt  Lake  City,  preaching  to  the 
different  settlements.    I  at  that  time  was  in  Washington 
county,  near  where  St.  George  now  stands.    He  sent  for 
me.    I  went  to  him  and  he  asked  me  to  take  him  to  Cedar 
City  by  way  of  Fort  Clara  and  Pinto  settlements,  as  he 
was  on  business  and  must  visit  all  the  settlements.     We 
started  on  our  way  up  through  the  canyon.     We  saw 
herds  of  Indians,  and  he  (George  A.  Smith)  remarked 
to  me  that  these  Indians,  with  the  advantages  they  had 
of  the  rocks,  could  use  up  a  large  company  of  emigrants, 
or  make  it  very  hot  for  them.    After  pausing  for  a  short 
time  he  said  to  me,  "Brother  Lee,  what  do  you  think  the 
brethren  would  do  if  a  company  of  emigrants  should 
come  down  through  here  making  threats?     Don't  you 
think  they  would  pitch  into  them?"     I  replied  that  "they 
certainly  would."     This  seemed  to  please  him,  and  he 
again  said  to  me,  "And  you  really  think  the  brethren 
would  pitch  into  them?"    "I  certainly  do,"  was  my  reply, 
"and  you  had  better  instruct  Colonel  Dame  and  Haight 
to  tend  to  it  that  the  emigrants  are  permitted  to  pass,  if 
you  want  them  to  pass  unmolested."     He  continued,  "I 
asked  Isaac  (meaning  Haight)  the  same  question,  and  he 
answered  me  just  as  you  do,  and  I  expect  the  boys  would 
pitch  into  them."     I  again  said  to  him  that  he  had  better 
say  to  Gov.  Young  that  if  he  wants  emigrant  companies  to 
pass  without  molestation  that  he  must  instruct  Col.  Dame 
or  Major  Haight  to  that  effect:    for    if    they    are    not 


344  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

ordered  otherwise  they  will  use  them  up  by  the  help  of  the 
Indians.  He  told  the  people  at  the  Clara  not  to  sell  their 
grain  to  the  emigrants,  nor  to  feed  it  to  their  animals,  as 
they  might  expect  a  big  fight  the  next  spring  with  the 
United  States.  President  Young  did  not  intend  to  let 
the  troops  into  the  territory.  He  said :  "We  are  going 
to  stand  up  for  our  rights,  and  will  no  longer  be  imposed 
upon  by  our  enemies,  and  want  every  man  to  be  on  hand 
with  his  gun  in  good  order  and  his  powder  dry,"  and 
instructed  the  people  to  part  with  nothing  that  would  sus- 
tain life.  From  the  ist  to  the  ioth  of  September,  1857,  a 
messenger  came  to  me — his  name  was  Sam  Wood — and 
told  me  that  President  Isaac  C.  Haight  wanted  me  to  be 
at  Cedar  City  that  evening  without  fail.  This  was  Satur- 
day. He  told  me  that  a  large  company  of  emigrants  had 
gone  south.  I  think  he  lived  at  Harmony,  twenty  miles 
south  of  Cedar  City. 

I  obeyed  the  summons.  President  Haight  met  me.  It 
was  near  sundown.  We  spent  the  night  in  an  open  house 
on  some  blankets,  where  we  talked  most  all  night.  He 
told  me  that  a  company  of  emigrants  had  passed  through 
some  two  days  before,  threatening  the  Mormons  with 
destruction,  and  that  one  of  them  had  said  he  had  helped 
to  kill  old  Joe  Smith  and  his  brother  Hyrum,  that  other 
members  of  the  company  of  emigrants  had  helped  drive 
the  Mormons  out  of  Missouri ;  that  others  had  said  they 
had  come  to  help  Johnson's  army  clean  the  Mormons  out 
of  Utah ;  that  they  had  the  halters  ready  to  hang  old  Brig- 
ham  and  Heber,  and  would  have  them  strung  up  before 
the  snow  flew ;  that  one  of  the  emigrants  called  one  of  his 
oxen  (a  pair  of  stags)  "Brig."  and  the  other  "Heber;" 
and  that  several  of  the  emigrants  had  used  all  kinds  of 
threats  and  profanity.     John  M.  Higbee,  the  City  Mar- 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  345 

shal,  had  informed  them  that  it  was  a  breach  of  the  city 
ordinances  to  use  profane  language,  whereupon  one  of 

them  replied  that  he  did  not  care  a for  the  Mormon 

laws  or  the  Mormons  either ;  that  they  had  fought  their 
way  through  the  Indians,  and  would  do  it  through  the 

Mormons ;  and  if  their  god,  old  Brigham,  and  his 

priests  would  not  sell  their  provisions,  by  they 

would  take  what  they  wanted  any  way  they  could  get  it ; 
that  thus  enraged,  one  of  them  let  loose  his  long  whip  and 
killed  two  chickens,  and  threw  them  into  the  wagon ;  that 
the  widow  Evans  said,  "Gentlemen,  those  are  my  chick- 
ens ;  please  don't  kill  them  ;  I  am  a  poor  widow ;"  that  they 

ordered  her  to  "shut  up,"  or  they  would  blow  her 

brains  out,  etc. ;  that  they  had  been  raising  trouble  with  all 
the  settlements  and  Indians  on  their  way;  that  we  were 
threatened  on  the  North  by  Johnson's  army ;  that  now  our 
safety  depended  on  prompt  and  immediate  action ;  that  a 
company  of  Indians  had  already  gone  South  from  Parowan 
and  Cedar  City  to  surprise  the  emigrants,  who  were  then 
at  the  Mountain  Meadows,  and  he  wanted  me  to  return 
home  in  the  morning  (Sunday),  and  send  Carl  Schurtz 
(Indian  interpreter)  from  my  home  (Harmony),  to  raise 
the  Indians  South,  at  Harmony,  Washington,  and  Santa 
Clara,  to  join  the  Indians  from  the  North  and  make  the 
attack  upon  the  emigrants  at  the  Meadows.  I  said  to 
him,  "Would  it  not  be  well  to  hold  a  council  of  the  breth- 
ren before  making  a  move  ?"  He  replied  that  "every  true 
Latter-Day  Saint  that  regarded  their  covenants  knew  well 
their  duty,  and  that  the  company  of  emigrants  had  for- 
feited their  lives  by  their  acts,"  and  that  Bishop  P.  K. 
Smith  (Klingensmith)  and  Joel  White  had  already  gone 
by  way  of  Pinto,  to  raise  the  Indians  in  that  direction,  and 
those  that  had  gone  from  Parowan  and  here  would  make 


346  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

the  attack,  and  might  be  repulsed.  "We  can't  now  delay 
for  a  council  of  the  brethren.  Return  immediately,  and 
start  Carl  Schurtz ;  tell  him  that  I  ordered  you  to  tell  him 
to  go;  and  I  want  you  to  try  and  get  there  before  the 
attack  is  made,  and  make  the  plan  for  the  Indians,  and 
will  send  Nephi  Johnson,  the  interpreter,  to  the  Meadows 
as  soon  as  he  can  be  got  to  help  Carl  Schurtz  manage  the 
Indians."  I  did  just  as  I  was  ordered.  The  Indians  from 
the  North  and  about  Harmony  had  already  started  for  the 
Meadows  before  I  reached  home.  Schurtz  started  imme- 
diately to  do  his  part. 

I  arrived  at  home  in  the  night,  and  remained  till  morn- 
ing. I  thought  over  the  matter,  and  the  more  I  thought 
the  more  my  feelings  revolted  against  such  a  horrid  deed. 
Sleep  had  fled  from  me.  I  talked  to  my  wife  Rachel 
about  it.  She  felt  as  I  did  about  it,  and  advised  me  to  let 
them  do  their  own  dirty  work,  and  said  that  if  things  did 
not  go  just  to  suit  them  the  blame  would  be  laid  on  me. 
She  never  did  believe  in  blood  atonement,  and  said  it  was 
from  the  devil,  and  that  she  would  rather  break  such  a 
covenant,  if  she  had  to  die  for  so  doing,  than  to  live  and 
be  guilty  of  doing  such  an  act.  I  finally  concluded  that 
I  would  go,  that  I  would  start  by  daybreak  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  try  to  get  there  before  an  attack  was  made  on  the 
company,  and  use  my  influence  with  the  Indians  to  let 
them  alone.  I  crossed  the  mountains  by  a  trail,  and 
reached  the  Meadows  between  nine  and  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  distance  from  my  place  being  about  twenty-five 
miles.  But  I  was  too  late.  The  attack  had  been  made 
just  before  daybreak  in  the  morning,  the  Indians  repulsed, 
with  one  killed  and  two  of  their  chiefs  from  Cedar  City 
shot  through  the  legs,  breaking  a  leg  for  each  of  them. 
The  Indians  were  in  a  terrible  rage.     I  went  to  some  of 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  347 

them  that  were  in  a  ravine.  They  told  me  to  go  to  the 
main  body,  or  they  would  kill  me  for  not  coming  before 
the  attack  was  made.  While  I  was  standing  there  I 
received  a  shot  just  above  the  belt,  cutting  through  my 
clothes  to  the  skin,  some  six  inches  across.  The  Indians 
with  whom  I  was  talking  lived  with  me  at  Harmony.  I 
was  Indian  Farmer.  They  told  me  I  was  in  danger,  and 
to  get  down  into  the  ravine.  I  said  that  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  do  anything  there,  and  I  dare  not  venture  to  the 
camp  of  the  emigrants  without  endangering  my  life.  I 
mounted  my  horse  and  started  south  to  meet  Carl  Schurtz. 
I  traveled  sixteen  miles  and  stopped  on  the  Megotsy  to 
bait  my  animal,  as  there  was  good  grass  and  water.  I 
had  rode  over  forty  miles  without  eating  or  drinking. 
This  is  the  place  where  Mr.  Tobin  met  his  assassinators. 
About  sunset  I  saw  Schurtz  and  some  ten  or  fifteen  white 
men  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians.  We 
camped. 

During  the  night  the  Indians  left  for  the  Meadows.  I 
reported  to  the  men  what  had  taken  place.  They  attacked 
the  emigrants  again,  about  sunrise  the  next  morning, 
which  was  Tuesday,  and  had  one  of  their  number  killed 
and  several  wounded.  I,  with  the  white  men,  reached  the 
Meadows  about  one  o'clock  p.  m.  On  the  way  we  met  a 
small  band  of  Indians  returning,  with  some  eighteen  or 
twenty  head  of  cattle.  One  of  the  Indians  was  wounded 
in  the  shoulder.  They  told  me  that  the  Indians  were 
encamped  east  of  the  emigrants,  at  some  springs.  On 
our  arrival  at  the  springs  we  found  some  two  hundred 
Indians,  among  whom  were  the  two  wounded  chiefs, 
Moqueetus  and  Bill.  The  Indians  were  in  a  high  state  of 
excitement;  had  killed  many  cattle  and  horses  belonging 
to  the  company.     I  counted  sixty  head  near  their  encamp- 


348  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

merit,  that  they  had  killed  in  revenge  for  the  wounding 
of  their  men.  By  the  assistance  of  Oscar  Hamblin 
(brother  of  Jacob  Hamblin)  and  Schurtz,  we  succeeded 
in  getting  the  Indians  to  desist  from  killing  any  more 
stock  that  night.  The  company  of  emigrants  had  cor- 
raled  all  their  wagons  but  one  for  better  defense.  This 
corral  was  about  one  hundred  yards  above  the  springs. 
This  they  did  to  get  away  from  the  ravine  and  from  the 
rocks  on  the  west.  The  attack  was  renewed  that  night 
by  the  Indians,  in  spite  of  all  we  could  do  to  prevent  it. 

When  the  attack  commenced,  Oscar  Hamblin,  William 
Young,  and  myself  started  to  go  to  the  Indians.  When 
opposite  the  corral,  on  the  north,  the  bullets  came  around 
us  like  a  shower  of  hail.  We  had  two  Indians  with  us  to 
pilot  us ;  they  threw  themselves  flat  on  the  ground  to  pro- 
tect themselves  from  the  bullets.  I  stood  erect  and  asked 
my  Father  in  heaven  to  protect  me  from  the  missies  of 
death,  and  enable  me  to  reach  the  Indians.  One  ball 
passed  through  my  hat  and  the  hair  of  my  head,  and 
another  through  my  shirt,  grazing  my  arm  near  the 
shoulder.  A  most  hideous  yell  of  the  Indians  com- 
menced. The  cries  and  shrieks  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren so  overcame  me  that  I  forgot  my  danger  and  rushed 
through  the  fire  to  the  Indians,  and  pleaded  with  them, 
in  tears,  to  desist.  I  told  them  that  the  Great  Spirit  would 
be  angry  with  them  for  killing  women  and  little  children. 
They  told  me  to  leave  or  they  would  serve  me  the  same 
way,  and  that  I  was  not  their  friend,  but  a 
friend  of  their  enemies;  that  I  was  a  squaw, 
and  did  not  have  the  heart  of  a  brave,  and  that 
I  could  not  see  blood  shed  without  crying  like  a  baby, 
and  called  me  cry-baby,  and  by  that  name  I  am  known  by 
all  the  Indians  to  this  day.     I  owe  my  life  on  that  occa- 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  349 

sion  to  Oscar  Hamblin  who  was  a  missionary  with  the 
Indians,  and  had  much  influence  with  the  Santa  Clara 
Indians.     They  were  the  ones  that  wanted  to  kill  me. 
Hamblin  shamed  them,  and  called  them  dogs  and  wolves 
for  wanting  to  shed  the  blood  of  their  father  (myself), 
who  had  fed  and  clothed  them.     We  finally  prevailed  on 
them  to  return  to  camp,  where  we  would  hold  a  council; 
that  I  would  send  for  big  Captains  to  come  and  talk.     We 
told  them  that  they  had  punished  the  emigrants  enough 
and  may  be  they  had  killed  nearly  all  of  them.    We  to  d 
them  that  Bishop  Dame  and  President  Haight  would 
come,  and  may  be  they  would  give  them  part  of  the  cat- 
tle and  let  the  company  go  with  the  teams.     In  this  way 
we  reconciled  them  to  suspend  hostilities  for  the  present. 
The  two  that  had  been  with  Hamblin  and  myself  the 
night  before  said  they  had  seen  two  men  on  horseback 
come  out  of  the  emigrant's  camp  under  full  speed,  and 
that  they  went  toward  Cedar  City. 

Wednesday  morning  I  asked  a  man— I  think  his  name 
was  Edwards-to  go  to  Cedar  City  and  say  to  President 
Haight,  for  God's  sake,  for  my  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of 
suffering  humanity,  to  send  out  men  to  rescue  that  com- 
pany    This  day  we  all  lay  still,  waiting  orders.     Occa- 
sionally a  few  of  the  Indians  withdrew,  taking  a  few  head 
of  animals  with  them.    'About  noon  I  crossed  the  valley 
north  of  the  corral,  thinking  to  examine  their  location 
from  the  west  range.     The  company  recognized  me  as  a 
white  man,  and  sent  two  little  boys,  about  four  years  old, 
to  meet  me.     I  hid  from  them,  fearing  the  Indians,  who 
discovered  the  children.    I  called  the  Indians,  who  wanted 
my  gun  or  ammunition  to  kill  them.     I  prevailed  with 
them  to  let  the  children  go  back  to  camp,  which  they  very 
soon  did  when  they  saw  the  Indians.    I  crept  up  behind 


350  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

some  rock,  on  the  west  range,  where  I  had  a  full  view  of 
the  corral.  In  it  they  had  dug  a  rifle-pit.  The  wheels  of 
their  wagons  were  chained  together,  and  the  only  chance 
for  the  Indians  was  to  starve  them  out,  or  shoot  them  as 
they  went  for  water.  I  lay  there  some  two  hours,  and 
contemplated  their  situation,  and  wept  like  a  child.  When 
I  returned  to  camp,  some  six  or  eight  men  had  come  from 
Cedar  City.  Joel  White,  William  C.  Stewart,  and  Elliot 
C.  Weldon  were  among  the  number,  but  they  had  no 
orders.  They  had  come  merely  to  see  how  things  were. 
The  Meadows  are  about  fifty  miles  from  Cedar  City. 
Thursday  afternoon  the  messenger  from  Cedar  City 
returned.  He  said  that  President  Haight  had  gone  to 
Parowan  to  confer  with  Col.  Dame,  and  a  company  of 
men  and  orders  would  be  sent  on  tomorrow  (Friday)  ; 
that  up  to  the  time  he  had  left,  the  council  had  come  to  no 
definite  conclusion.  During  this  time  the  Indians  and 
men  were  engaged  in  broiling  beef  and  making  up  their 
hides  into  lassos.  I  had  flattered  myself  that  bloodshed 
was  at  an  end.  After  the  emigrants  saw  me  cross  the 
valley,  they  hoisted  a  white  flag  in  the  midst  of  their 
corral. 

Friday  afternoon  four  wagons  drove  up  with  armed 
men.  When  they  saw  the  white  flag  in  the  corral,  they 
raised  one  also,  but  drove  to  the  springs  where  we  were, 
and  took  refreshment,  after  which  a  council  meeting  was 
called  of  Presidents,  Bishops,  and  other  Church  officers 
and  members  of  the  High  Council,  societies,  High  Priests, 
etc.  Major  John  M.  Higbee  presided  as  chairman.  Sev- 
eral of  the  dignitaries  bowed  in  prayer,  invoked  the  aid 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  prepare  their  minds,  and  guide  them 
to  do  right,  and  carry  out  the  counsels  of  their  leaders. 
Higbee  said  that  "President  J.  C.  Haight  had  been  to  Par- 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  351 

owan  to  confer  with  Col.  Dame  and  their  counsel,  and 
orders  were  that  this  emigrant  camp  must  be  used  up." 
I  replied,  "Men,  women,  and  children  ?"  "All,"  said  he, 
"except  such  as  are  too  young  to  tell  tales;  and  if  the 
Indians  cannot  do  it  without  help,  we  must  help  them." 
I  commenced  pleading  for  the  company,  and  I  said, 
though  some  of  them  behaved  badly,  they  have  been 
pretty  well  chastised.  My  policy  would  be  to  draw  off 
the  Indians,  let  them  have  a  portion  of  the  loose  cattle, 
and  withdraw  with  them,  under  promise  that  they  would 
not  molest  the  company  any  more;  that  the  company 
would  then  have  teams  enough  left  to  take  them  to  Cal- 
ifornia. I  told  them  that  this  course  could  not  bring 
them  into  trouble.  Higbee  said,  "White  men  have  inter- 
posed, and  the  emigrants  know  it,  and  there  lies  the  dan- 
ger in  letting  them  go."  I  said,  "What  white  man  inter- 
fered ?"  He  replied  that  in  the  attack  on  Tuesday  night 
two  men  broke  out  of  the  corral  and  started  for  Cedar 
City  on  horseback ;  that  they  were  met  at  Richey's  Spring 
by  Stewart,  Joel  White,  and  another  man,  whose  name  has 
passed  from  me.  Stewart  asked  the  two  men  their  names 
when  they  met  at  the  spring,  and  being  told  in  reply  by 
one  of  the  men  that  his  name  was  Aden,  and  that  the 
other  was  a  Dutchman  from  the  emigrant's  company, 
Stewart  shoved  a  pistol  to  Aden's  breast,  and  killed  him, 

saying,  "Take  that,  you."     The  other  man    (the 

Dutchman)  wheeled  to  leave  as  Joel  White  fired  and 
wounded  him.  I  asked  him  how  he  knew  the  wounded 
Dutchman  got  back  to  the  emigrants'  camp.  He  said 
because  he  was  tracked  back,  and  they  knew  he  was  there. 
I  again  said  that  it  was  better  to  deliver  the  man  to  them, 
and  let  them  do  anything  they  wished  with  them,  and  tell 
them  that  we  did  not  approve  such  things.     Ira  Allen, 


352  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

high  councillor,  and  Robert  Wiley,  and  others,  spoke, 
reproving  me  sharply  for  trying  to  dictate  to  the  priest- 
hood; that  it  would  set  at  naught  all  authority;  that  he 
would  not  give  the  life  of  one  of  our  brethren  for  a  thou- 
sand such  persons.  "If  we  let  them  go,"  he  continued, 
"they  will  raise  hell  in  California,  and  the  result  will  be 
that  our  wives  and  children  will  have  to  be  butchered,  and 
ourselves  too,  and  they  are  no  better  to  die  than  ours,  and 
I  am  surprised  to  hear  Brother  Lee  talk  as  he  does,  as  he, 
who  has  always  been  considered  one  of  the  staunchest  in 
the  Church,  now  is  the  first  to  shirk  his  duty."  I  said, 
"Brethren,  the  Lord  must  harden  my  heart  before  I  can 
do  such  a  thing."  Allen  said,  "It  is  not  wicked  to  obey 
counsel/'  At  this  juncture  I  withdrew,  walked  off  some 
fifty  paces,  and  prostrated  myself  on  the  ground  and  wept 
in  the  bitter  anguish  of  my  soul,  and  asked  the  Lord  to 
avert  that  evil. 

While  in  that  situation  Councillor  C.  Hopkins,  a  near 
friend  of  mine,  came  to  me  and  said,  "Brother  Lee,  come, 
get  up,  and  don't  draw  off  from  the  priesthood.  You 
ought  not  to  do  so.  You  are  only  endangering  your  own 
life  by  standing  out.  You  can't  help  it,  if  this  is  wrong ; 
the  blame  won't  rest  on  you."  I  said,  "Charley,  this  is 
the  worst  move  this  people  ever  made;  I  feel  it."  He 
said,  "Come,  go  back,  and  let  them  have  their  way."  I 
went  back,  weeping  like  a  child,  and  took  my  place,  and 
tried  to  be  silent,  and  was  until  Higbee  said  they  (the 
emigrants)  must  be  decoyed  out  through  pretended 
friendship.  I  could  no  longer  hold  my  peace,  and  said 
I,  "Joseph  Smith  said  that  God  hated  a  traitor,  and  so  do 
I :  before  I  would  be  a  traitor,  I  would  rather  take  ten 
men,  and  go  to  that  camp  and  tell  them  they  must  die, 
and  now  to  defend  themselves,  and  give  them  a  show  for 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  353 

their  lives;  that  would  be  more  honorable  than  to  betray 
them  like  Judas."  Here  I  got  another  reproof,  and  was 
ordered  to  hold  my  peace.  The  plan  agreed  upon  there 
was  to  meet  them  with  a  flag  of  truce,  tell  them  that  the 
Indians  were  determined  on  their  destruction;  that  we 
dare  not  oppose  the  Indians,  for  we  were  at  their  mercy ; 
that  the  best  we  could  do  for  them  (the  emigrants)  was 
to  get  them  and  what  few  traps  we  could  take  in  the 
wagons,  to  lay  their  arms  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon 
and  cover  them  up  with  bed-clothes,  and  start  for  the 
settlement  as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  trust  themselves  in 
our  hands.  The  small  children  and  wounded  were  to 
go  with  the  two  wagons,  the  women  to  follow  the  wag- 
ons, and  the  men  next,  the  troops  to  stand  in  readiness 
on  the  east  side  of  the  road  ready  to  receive  them.  Schurtz 
and  Nephi  Johnson  were  to  conceal  the  Indians  in  the 
brush  and  rocks  till  the  company  was  strung  out  on  the 
road  to  a  certain  point,  and  at  the  watchword,  "Halt ;  do 
your  duty!"  each  man  was  to  cover  his  victim  and  fire. 
Johnson  and  Schurtz  were  to  rally  the  Indians,  and  rush 
upon  and  dispatch  the  women  and  larger  children.  It 
was  further  told  the  men  that  President  Haight  said,  if 
we  were  united  in  carrying  out  the  instructions,  we  would 
all  receive  "celestial  reward."  I  said  I  was  willing  to  put 
up  with  a  less  reward  if  I  could  be  excused.  "How  can 
you  do  this  without  shedding  innocent  blood?"  Here  I 
got  another  lampooning  for  my  stubbornness  and  disobe- 
dience to  the  priesthood.  I  was  told  that  there  was  not  a 
drop  of  innocent  blood  in  the  whole  company  of  emi- 
grants. Also  referred  to  the  Gentile  nations  who  refused 
the  children  of  Israel  passage  through  their  country  when 
Moses  led  them  out  of  Egypt — that  the  Lord  held  that 
crime  against  them,  and  when  Israel  waxed  strong  the 


354  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

Lord  commanded  Joshua  to  slay  the  whole  nation,  men, 
women,  and  children..  "Have  not  these  people  done 
worse  than  that  to  us  ?  Have  they  not  threatened  to  mur- 
der our  leaders  and  prophets,  Joseph  and  Hyrum  ?  Now 
talk  about  shedding  innocent  blood."  They  said  I  was 
a  good,  liberal,  free-hearted  man,  but  too  much  of  this 
sympathy  would  be  always  in  the  way;  that  every  man 
now  had  to  show  his  colors ;  that  it  was  not  safe  to  have 
a  Judas  in  camp.  Then  it  was  proposed  that  every  man 
express  himself;  that  if  there  was  a  man  who  would  not 
keep  a  close  mouth,  they  wanted  to  know  it  then.  This 
gave  me  to  understand  what  I  might  expect  if  I  con- 
tinued to  oppose.  Major  Higbee  said,  "Brother  Lee  is 
right.  Let  him  take  an  expression  of  the  people."  I 
knew  I  dared  not  refuse ;  so  I  had  every  man  speak  and 
express  himself.  All  said  they  were  willing  to  carry  out 
the  counsel  of  their  leaders;  that  the  leaders  had  the 
spirit  of  God,  and  knew  better  what  was  right  than  they 
did.  They  then  wanted  to  know  my  feelings.  I  replied, 
I  have  already  expressed  them.  Every  eye  was  upon  me 
as  I  paused ;  "but,"  said  I,  "you  can  do  as  you  please ;  I 
will  not  oppose  you  any  longer."  "Will  you  keep  a  close 
mouth  ?"  was  the  question.  "I  will  try,"  was  my  answer. 
I  will  here  say  that  the  fear  of  offending  Brigham  Young 
and  George  A.  Smith  had  saved  my  life.  I  was  near 
being  "blood-atoned"  in  Parowan,  under  J.  C.  L.  Smith, 
in  1854,  but  on  this  I  have  spoken  in  my  autobiography. 

Saturday  morning  all  was  ready,  and  every  man 
assigned  to  his  post  of  duty.  During  the  night,  or  rather 
just  before  daylight,  Johnson  and  Schurtz  ambushed  their 
Indians,  the  better  to  deceive  the  emigrants.  About  11 
o'clock  a.  m.  the  troops  under  Major  Higbee  took  their 
position  on  the  road.     The  white  flag  was  still  kept  up  in 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  355 

the  corral.  Higbee  called  William  Bateman  out  of  the 
ranks  to  take  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  corral.  He  was  met 
about  half  way  with  another  white  flag  from  the  emi- 
grants' camp.  They  had  a  talk.  The  emigrants  were  told 
we  had  come  to  rescue  them  if  they  would  trust  us.  Both 
men  with  flags  returned  to  their  respective  places  and 
reported,  and  were  to  meet  again  and  bring  word.  Hig- 
bee called  me  out  to  go  and  inform  them  the  conditions, 
and  if  accepted,  Dan  McFarland,  brother  to  John  McFar- 
land,  lawyer,  who  acted  as  aide-de-camp,  would  bring 
back  word,  and  then  the  wagons  would  be  sent  for  the 
firearms,  children,  clothing,  etc.  I  obeyed,  and  thevterms 
proposed  were  accepted,  but  not  without  distrust.  I  had 
as  little  to  say  as  possible ;  in  fact,  my  tongue  refused  to 
perform  its  office.  I  sat  down  on  the  ground  in  the  cor- 
ral, near  where  some  young  men  were  engaged  in  paying 
their  last  respects  to  some  person  who  had  just  died  of  a 
wound.  A  large  fleshy  old  lady  came  to  me  twice,  and 
talked  while  I  sat  there.  She  related  their  troubles ;  said 
that  seven  of  their  number  were  killed,  and  forty-seven 
wounded  on  the  first  attack ;  that  several  had  died  since. 
She  asked  me  if  I  were  an  Indian  agent.  I  said,  "In  one 
sense  I  am,  as  Government  has  appointed  me  farmer  to 
the  Indians."  I  told  her  this  to  satisfy  her.  I  heard 
afterwards  that  the  same  question  was  asked  and  an- 
swered in  the  same  manner  by  McFarland,  who  had  been 
sent  by  Higbee  to  the  corral  to  "hurry  me  up,  for  fear  that 
the  Indians  would  come  back  and  be  upon  them." 

When  all  was  ready,  Samuel  McMurdy,  counsel  to 
Bishop  P.  K.  Smith  (Klingensmith),  drove  out  on  the 
lead.  His  wagon  had  the  seventeen  children,  clothing, 
and  arms.  Samuel  Knight  drove  the  other  team,  with 
five  wounded  men  and  one  boy  about  fifteen  years  old.     I 


356  THE   MORMON    MONSTER. 

walked  behind  the  front  wagon  to  direct  the  course,  and 
to  shun  being  in  the  heat  of  the  slaughter ;  but  this  I  kept 
to  myself.     When  we  got  turned  fairly  to  the  east,  I 
motioned  to  McMurdy  to  steer  north,  across  the  valley. 
I,  at  the  same  time,  told  the  women,  who  were  next  to  the 
wagon,  to  follow  the  road  up  to  the  troop,  which  they 
did.     Instead  of  saying  to  McMurdy  not  to  drive  so  fast 
(as  he  swore  on  my  trial),  I  said  to  the  contrary,  to  drive 
on,  as  my  aim  was  to  get  out  of  sight  before  the  firing 
commenced,  which  we  did.     We  were  about  half  a  mile 
ahead  of  the  company  when  we  heard  the  first  firing.     We 
drove  over  a  ridge  of  rolling  ground,  and  down  on  a  low 
flat.     The  firing  was  simultaneous  along  the  whole  line. 
The  moment  the  firing  commenced  McMurdy  halted  and 
tied  his  lines  across  the  rod  of  the  wagon-box,  stepped 
down  coolly  with  double-barreled  shot-gun,  walked  back 
to  Knight's  wagon,  who  had  the  wounded  men,  and  was 
about  twenty  feet  in  the  rear.     As  he  raised  his  piece,  he 
said,  "Lord,  my  God,  receive  their  spirits,  for  it  is  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven's  sake  that  we  do  this,"  fired  and  killed 
two  men.     Samuel  Knight  had  a  muzzle-loading  rifle,  and 
he  shot  and  killed  the  three  men,  then  struck  the  wounded 
boy  on  the  head,  who  fell  dead.     In  the  meantime  I  drew 
a  five-shooter  from  my  belt,  which  accidentally  went  off, 
cutting  across  McMurdy's  buskin  pantaloons  in   front, 
below  the  crotch.     McMurdy  said,  "Brother  Lee,  you  are 
excited ;  take  things  cool ;  you  was  near  killin'  me.     Look 
where  the  bullet  cut,"  pointing  to  the  place  in  his  panta- 
loons.    At  this  moment  I  heard  the  scream  of  a  child.     I 
looked  up  and  saw  an  Indian  have  a  little  boy  by  the  hair 
of  his  head,  dragging  him  out  of  the  hind  end  of  the 
wagon,  with  a  knife  in  his  hand,  getting  ready  to  cut  his 
throat.     I  sprang  for  the  Indian  with  my  revolver  in 


ANN    ELIZA   WEBB 
WIFE  OF   BRIGHAM   YOUNG   POPULARLY   KNOWN   AS  NO.   19 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  357 

hand,  and  shouted  to  the  top  of  my  voice,  "Arick,  oomo, 
cot  too  sooet"  (stop,  you  fool!).  The  child  was  terror- 
stricken.  His  chin  was  bleeding.  I  supposed  it  was  the 
cut  of  a  knife,  but  afterwards  learned  that  it  was  done  on 
the  wagon-box,  as  the  Indian  yanked  the  boy  down  by 
the  hair  of  the  head.  I  had  no  sooner  rescued  this  child 
than  another  Indian  seized  a  little  girl  by  the  hair.  I 
rescued  her  as  soon  as  I  could  speak;  I  told  the  Indians 
that  they  must  not  hurt  the  children — that  I  would  die 
before  they  should  be  hurt ;  that  we  would  buy  the  chil- 
dren of  them.  Before  this  time  the  Indians  had  rushed 
around  the  wagon  in  quest  of  blood,  and  dispatched  the 
two  runaway  wounded  men.  In  justice  to  my  statement 
I  would  say  that  if  my  shooter  had  not  prematurely 
exploded,  I  would  have  had  a  hand  in  despatching  the 
five  wounded.  I  had  lost  control  of  myself,  and  scarce 
knew  what  I  was  about.  I  saw  an  Indian  pursue  a  little 
girl  who  was  fleeing.  He  caught  her  about  one  hundred 
feet  from  the  wagon,  and  plunged  his  knife  through  her. 
I  said  to  McMurdy  that  he  had  better  drive  the  children 
to  Hamblin's  ranch,  and  give  them  some  nourishment, 
while  I  would  go  down  and  get  my  horse  at  the  camp. 
Passing  along  the  road  I  saw  the  dead  strung  along  the 
distance  of  about  half  a  mile.  The  women  and  children 
were  killed  by  the  Indians.  I  saw  Schurtz  with  the  In- 
dians, and  no  other  white  man  with  them.  When  I  came 
to  the  men,  they  lay  about  a  rod  apart.  Here  I  came  up 
with  Higbee,  Bishop  Smith,  and  the  rest  of  the  company. 
As  I  came  up,  Higbee  said  to  me,  "Let  us  search  these 
persons  for  valuables,"  and  asked  me  to  assist  him ;  gave 
me  a  hat  to  hold.  Several  men  were  already  engaged  in 
searching  the  bodies.  I  replied  that  I  was  unwell,  and 
wanted  to  get  upon  my  horse  and  go  to  the  ranch  and 


358  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

nurse  myself.  My  request  was  granted.  Reaching  Ham- 
blin's  ranch — being  heartsick  and  worn  out — I  lay  down 
on  my  saddle-blanket  and  slept,  and  knew  but  little  of 
what  passed  during  the  night. 

About  daybreak  in  the  morning,  I  heard  the  voices  of 
Col.  Dame  and  Isaac  C.  Haight.  I  heard  some  very  angry 
words  pass  between  them,  which  drew  my  attention. 
Dame  said  he  would  have  to  report  the  destruction  of  the 
emigrant  camp  and  company.  Haight  said,  "How,  as  an 
Indian  massacre?"  Dame  said  he  did  not  know  so  well 
about    that.     This  reply  seemed  to  irritate  Haight,  who 

spoke  quite  loudly,  saying,  "How  the  can  you 

report  it  any  other  way  without  implicating  yourself?" 
At  this  Dame  lowered  his  voice  almost  to  a  whisper;  I 
could  not  understand  what  he  said,  and  the  conversation 
stopped. 

I  got  up,  saw  the  children,  and  among  the  others  the 
boy  who  was  pulled  by  the  hair  of  his  head  out  of  the 
wagon  by  the  Indian  and  saved  by  me;  that  boy  I  took 
home  and  kept  until  Dr.  Forney,  Government  agent,  came 
to  gather  up  the  children  and  take  them  East ;  he  took  the 
boy  with  the  others ;  that  boy's  name  was  William  Fan- 
cher;  his  father  was  captain  of  the  train;  he  was  taken 
East  and  adopted  by  a  man  in  Nebraska,  named  Richard 
Sloan ;  he  remained  East  several  years,  and  then  returned 
to  Utah,  and  is  now  a  convict  in  the  Utah  penitentiary, 
having  been  convicted  the  past  year  for  the  crime  of 
highway  robbery.  He  is  know  known  by  the  name  of 
"Idaho  Bill,"  but  his  true  name  is  William  Fancher.  His 
little  sister  was  also  taken  East,  and  is  now  the  wife  of 
a  man  working  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
near  Green  River.  The  boy  (now  man)  has  yet  got  the 
scar  on  his  chin  caused  by  the  cut  on  the  wagon-box, 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  359 

and  those  who  are  curious  enough  to  examine  will  find  a 
large  scar  on  the  ball  of  his  left  foot,  caused  by  a  deep  cut 
made  by  an  ax  while  he  was  with  me. 

I  got  breakfast  that  morning.  Then  all  hands  returned 
to  the  scene  of  the  slaughter  to  bury  the  dead.  The  bodies 
were  all  in  a  nude  state.  The  Indians,  through  the  night, 
had  stripped  them  of  every  vestige  of  clothing.  Many  of 
the  parties  were  laughing  and  talking  as  they  carried  the 
bodies  to  the  ravine  for  burial.  They  were  just  covered 
over  a  little,  but  did  not  long  remain  so ;  for  the  wolves 
dug  them  up,  and  after  eating  the  flesh  from  them,  the 
bones  laid  upon  the  ground  until  buried,  some  time  after, 
by  a  Government  military  officer.  At  the  time  of  bury- 
ing the  bodies  Dame  and  Haight  got  into  another  quarrel. 
Dame  seemed  to  be  terror-stricken,  and  again  said  he 
would  have  to  publish  it.  They  were  about  two  paces 
from  me.  Dame  spoke  low,  as  if  careful  to  avoid  being 
heard.  Haight  spoke  loud,  and  said,  "You  know  that  you 
counseled  it,  and  ordered  me  to  have  them  used  up." 
Dame  said,  "I  did  not  think  that  there  were  so  many 
women  and  children.  I  thought  they  were  nearly  all 
killed  by  the  Indians."  Haight  said,  "It  is  too  late  in  the 
day  for  you  to  back  water.  You  know  you  ordered  and 
counseled  it,  and  now  you  want  to  back  ont."  Dame  said, 
"Have  you  the  papers  for  that?"  or  "Show  the  papers  for 
that."  This  enraged  Haight  to  the  highest  pitch,  and 
Dame  walked  off.  Haight  said,  "You  throw  the  blame 
of  this  thing  on  me,  and  I  will  be  revenged  on  you,  if  I 
have  to  meet  you  in  hell  to  get  it."  From  this  place  we 
rode  to  the  wagons ;  we  found  them  stripped  of  their 
covers  and  every  particle  of  clothing,  even  the  feather- 
beds  had  been  ripped  open  and  the  contents  turned  upon 
the  ground,  looking  for  plunder.     I  crossed  the  mount- 


36o  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

ains  by  an  Indian  trail,  taking  my  little  Indian  boy  with 
me  on  my  horse.  The  gathering  up  of  the  property  and 
cattle  was  left  in  charge  of  Bishop  P.  K.  Smith.  The  tes- 
timony of  Smith  in  regard  to  the  property  and  the  dispo- 
sition of  it  was  very  nearly  correct. 

I  must  not  forget  to  state,  that  after  the  attack  a  mes- 
senger by  the  name  of  James  Haslem  was  sent  with  a  dis- 
patch to  President  Brigham  Young,  asking  his  advice 
about  interfering  with  the  company,  but  he  did  not  return 
in  time.  This  I  had  no  knowledge  of  until  the  massacre 
was  committed.  Some  two  weeks  after  the  deed  was 
done,  Isaac  C.  Haight  sent  me  to  report  to  Governor 
Young  in  person.  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  send  a 
written  report.  He  replied  that  I  could  tell  him  more 
satisfactorily  than  he  could  write,  and  if  I  would  stand 
up  and  shoulder  as  much  of  the  responsibility  as  I  could 
conveniently,  that  it  would  be  a  feather  in  my  cap  some 
day,  and  that  I  would  get  a  celestial  salvation,  but  that 
the  man  who  shrank  from  it  now  would  go  to  hell.  I 
went  and  did  as  I  was  commanded.  Brigham  asked  me 
if  Isaac  C.  Haight  had  written  a  letter  to  him.  I  replied, 
not  by  me,  but  I  said  he  wished  me  to  report  in  person. 
"All  right,"  said  Brigham;  "were  you  an  eye-witness?" 
"To  the  most  of  it,"  was  my  reply.  Then  I  proceeded 
and  gave  him  a  full  history  of  all  except  that  of  my  oppo- 
sition. That  I  left  out  entirely.  I  told  him  of  the  killing 
of  the  women  and  children,  and  the  betraying  of  the  com- 
pany. That,  I  told  him,  I  was  opposed  to,  but  I  did  not 
say  to  him  to  what  extent  I  was  opposed  to  it,  only  that  I 
was  opposed  to  shedding  innocent  blood.  "Why,"  said  he, 
"you  differ  from  Isaac  (Haight),  for  he  said  there  was 
not  a  drop  of  innocent  blood  in  the  whole  company." 
When  I  was  through,  he  said  that  it  was  awful ;  that  he 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  361 

cared  nothing  about  the  men,  but  the  women  and  children 
was  what  troubled  him.  I  said,  "President  Young,  you 
should  either  release  men  from  their  obligation  or  sustain 
them  when  they  do  what  they  have  entered  into  the  most 
sacred  obligations  to  do."  He  replied,  "I  will  think  over 
the  matter,  and  make  it  a  subject  of  prayer,  and  you  may 
come  back  in  the  morning  and  see  me."  I  did  so,  and  he 
said,  "John,  I  feel  first-rate ;  I  asked  the  Lord  if  it  was  all 
right  for  that  deed  to  be  done,  to  take  away  the  vision  of 
the  deed  from  my  mind,  and  the  Lord  did  so,  and  I  feel 
first-rate.  It  is  all  right.  The  only  fear  I  have  is  of 
traitors."  He  told  me  never  to  lisp  it  to  any  mortal  being, 
not  even  to  Brother  Heber.  President  Young  has  always 
treated  me  with  the  friendship  of  a  father  since,  and  has 
sealed  several  women  to  me  since,  and  has  made  my  house 
his  home  when  in  that  part  of  the  territory,  until  danger 
has  threatened  him.  This  is  a  true  statement  according 
to  the  best  of  my  recollection. 

John  D.  Lee. 


APPENDIX  F. 
MORMON  MORALS— A  RECENT  EXPERIENCE. 

BY  REV.  S.  E.  WISHARD,  D.  D.,  IN  JOURNAL  AND  MESSENGER. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  worshiper  is  assimilated 
to  the  character  of  his  deity.  The  contrasts  between 
heathenism  and  Christianity  have  established  that  fact  dur- 
ing all  the  ages.  Ancient  paganism  taught  its  devotees  to 
worship  the  gods  of  war,  of  lust,  of  every  vile  passion  of 
the  human  soul.  That  worship  developed  and  intensified 
those  passions,  until  the  nation  and  individuals  became 
monsters,  and  incarnate  crime  stalked  forth  to  amaze  the 
world  and  call  down  the  vengeance  of  God.  On  the  ether 
hand,  where  God's  revelation  of  Himself  has  been  ".iade 
known,  and  has  been  accepted,  passion  and  hate  have  been 
swept  out  of  human  life.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "Chris- 
tendom, in  contrast  with  heathenism,  is  the  best  argument 
for  Christianity."  The  deities  of  any  people  determine 
the  morals  of  those  who  worship  them. 

It  ought  to  be  pretty  well  known  to  Christian  people 
everywhere  that  the  Mormon  people  worship  Adam.  When 
they  meet  in  the  great  tabernacle  and  their  minister  leads 
the  worship  of  the  people,  he  usually  begins  his  prayer 
with  the  scriptural  address,  "Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven."  That  is  an  address  to  Adam.  He  is  not  address- 
ing the  God  of  the  Bible,  the  God  of  the  Christian,  but  the 
Mormon  God,  Adam.  The  inspired  (?)  prophet,  Joseph 
Smith,  taught  the  Mormon  people  that  "God  himself  was 
once  as  we  are  now,  and  is  an  exalted  man,"  and  they  ac- 
cept that  doctrine.    Their  definition  of  God  is  this :  "What 

36* 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  3^3 

I  am  now  God  once  was;  what  He  now  is,  I  shall  be." 
That  is,  the  Mormon  God  was  a  man,  and  we  are  to  be 
gods  if  we  live  in  polygamy  and  secure  a  numerous  pos- 
terity. Brigham  Young  explained  the  pagan  theology  of 
the  Mormon  church  when  he  taught  that  "he  (Adam)  is 
our  father  and  our  God,  and  the  only  God  with  whom  we 
have  to  do."  This  doctrine  of  the  Mormon  deity  lies  at 
the  base  of  the  Mormon  system  and  permeates  it. 

With  such  doctrines  everywhere  taught  in  Utah,  what 
may  we  expect  of  the  morals  of  the  people  who  accept  the 
system  ?  We  are  authorized  to  expect  just  what  we  find- 
corruption,  treachery  and  falsehood  in  religion,  politics 
and  social  life. 

In  religion  the  Mormon  teachers  preach  this  Adam-god 
doctrine  in  Utah,  and  deny  it  when  they  go  before  the 
people  in  the  East.  They  secretly,  and  sometimes  openly, 
teach  polygamy  in  Utah,  and  deny  it  when  they  go  out. 
They  practice  this  crime  against  law,  against  our  State 
constitution,  against  the  home,  against  God,  and  deny  it 
everywhere  outside  of  Utah. 

A  recent  convert  to  Mormonism,  Mr.  Frank  S.  Johnson, 
makes  the  following  statement,  viz. : 

"To  the  public :  My  home  is  in  Vicksville,  Southampton 
County,  Virginia.  I  am  thirty-eight  years  old,  and  have  a 
family  of  six  children.  My  sister-in-law  died  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  and  left  five  children  to  my  care.  I 
had  been  a  Christian  more  than  four  years  before  the 
Mormon  missionaries  came  to  my  house,  and  had  found 
great  comfort  in  the  Christian  life.  I  was  a  member  of 
the  Christian  church,  sometimes  called  the  Disciples.  Nine 
members  of  my  family  were  also  members  of  the  church. 
George  Whittle  and  Henry  Taggart,  Mormon  missiona- 
ries, came  to  my  home  early  in  December,  1899.     They 


364  THE    MORMON    MONSTER. 

have  made  their  home  with  me  since  they  came  until  this 
time,  May,  1900.  (That  is  the  way  they  preach  the  gos- 
pel without  purse  or  scrip.)  There  were  six  other  mis- 
sionaries coming  often  to  my  house  and  remaining  sev- 
eral days  at  a  time.  They  told  us  that  we  must  gather  to 
Israel,  flee  to  the  mountains ;  that  this  was  the  command- 
ment of  the  Lord.  They  talked  like  Christians,  and  I  be- 
lieved what  they  said  and  trusted  them.  They  said  when 
Christ  came  he  would  come  to  the  temple,  and  we  ought  to 
be  there.  They  said  polygamy  had  been  done  away  with 
— that  no  one  was  living  in  polygamy,  nor  had  been  for  a 
great  many  years.  They  told  us  we  could  not  live  our 
religion  in -Virginia,  but  ought  to  come  to  the  mountains. 
They  said  the  saints  here  (in  Utah)  were  a  pure  people — 
no  such  wickedness  as  in  the  States.  They  represented 
Utah  as  a  paradise.  They  wanted  us  to  come  to  the  tem- 
ple and  be  sealed  to  each  other  as  husband  and  wife  and 
children. 

They  wanted  me  to  sell  all  and  come  with  my  family. 
We  all  joined  the  Mormon  Church,  and  believed  what  the 
missionaries  told  us.  But  I  did  not  want  to  sell  my  little 
home  until  I  had  come  to  see.  They  said  I  could  take  up 
as  much  land  as  I  wanted  when  I  came,  so  I  decided  to 
come,  and  sold  all  my  farming  implements,  my  mechanical 
tools,  my  horse  and  timber  that  I  had  ready  to  work.  I 
got  money  enough  to  come  and  go  back  again.  They  did 
not  want  me  to  take  money  enough  for  me  to  return — said 
I  would  like  it  here.  I  came  on  and  went  to  the  friends  at 
Preston,  Idaho,  to  which  place  they  directed  me.  I  called 
at  Mrs.  Whittle's,  and  learned  that  her  daughter,  sister  of 
our  missionary,  was  living  in  polygamy.  I  learned  also 
from  the  Mormons  that  the  sister  of  Elder  Taggart  was  a 
polygamous  wife. 


THE    MORMON    MONSTER.  365 

These  facts  startled  me,  as  both  of  the  missionaries  had 
declared  to  us  again  and  again  that  no  one  had  been  in 
polygamy  for  a  long  time ;  polygamy  was  a  thing  of  the 
long  past.  If  they  had  told  me  the  truth  I  would  not 
have  come  to  Utah,  nor  would  I  have  sacrificed  my  prop- 
erty to  come. 

While  visiting  among  the  brethren  at  Preston  I  discov- 
ered that  the  saints  would  swear,  for  I  heard  them.  They 
would  ask  a  blessing  at  the  table,  and  presently  begin  to 
curse.  They  would  pray  and  swear  right  along.  I  had 
never  been  used  to  that,  and  it  hurt  me. 

President  Snow,  the  Mouthpiece  of  God,  Prophet,  Seer 
and  Revelator,  came  up  to  conference  at  Preston.  I 
thought,  Now  we  will  hear  something  good ;  if  he  does 
speak  for  God,  he  will  surely  say  something  good  and  help- 
ful. But  to  my  surprise  he  did  not.  He  talked  all  the 
time  about  tithing.  They  must  pay  up.  It  was  money, 
money,  money  all  the  time ;  no  Gospel  at  all ;  nothing  about 
the  love  of  God ;  nothing  about  our  Savior  whom  I  loved. 
I  was  sick  and  disheartened.  I  could  neither  sleep  nor  eat. 
The  saints  wanted  me  to  come  to  all  their  meetings,  but 
I  could  not.  The  missionaries  had  deceived  me.  Instead 
of  a  paradise,  I  found  the  saints  swearing,  living  in  pblyg- 
amy,  and  the  young  people  were  vile  beyond  description. 
Instead  of  the  prayer  meeting  they  had  the  dance.  Instead 
of  the  gospel  of  love  they  preached  money.  I  went  out 
and  lay  down  in  the  fields,  crying  to  God  for  help  to  get 
away,  back  to  my  home  again. 

All  these  facts  and  conditions  I  found  out  from  the 
saints.  I  did  not  go  to  any  of  the  denominations  for 
information.  I  heard  with  my  own  ears,  saw  with  my 
own  eyes,  and  sorrowed  in  my  own  heart.  The  Mormon 
missionaries  who  profess  to  preach  without  purse  or  scrip, 


366  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

cost  me,  a  poor  man,  with  a  large  family,  about  three  hun- 
dred dollars.  But  I  am  thankful  that  I  did  not  bring  my 
family.  I  thank  God  that  he  has  made  it  possible  for  me 
to  go  back  home.  I  will  warn  all  my  neighbors  against 
the  falsehoods  and  deceptions  of  the  Mormon  missionaries. 
I  make  these  statements  to  warn  all  people  against  the 
Mormon  deceivers.     It  is  the  worst  thing  I  ever  heard  of. 

FRANK  S.  JOHNSON." 

Mr.  Johnson's  experience  is  not  infrequent.  A  lady 
who  had  embraced  Mormonism  through  the  misrepresenta- 
tions and  false  teachings  of  their  missionaries  recently 
came  to  Salt  Lake  City.  When  she  discovered  that  the 
great  pretender,  "the  Mouthpiece  of  God,"  as  he  calls  him- 
self, had  seven  or  eight  wives,  and  that  the  men  calling 
themselves  apostles  had  followed  his  example,  were  living 
in  violation  of  the  law  of  God  and  man,  her  heart  sank 
within  her,  and  she  sought  to  escape  to  her  home  again  in 
the  South.  The  more  painful  experience  is  that  some  of 
these  perverts  to  Mormonism  bring  their  families.  They 
exhaust  their  means  in  reaching  Utah.  And  when  they  dis- 
cover the  deception  practiced  upon  them  they  are  unable 
to  return.  To  avoid  being  boycotted  and  persecuted,  they 
settle  down,  pretending  to  believe  what  they  know  to  be 
false.  Our  missionaries  get  hold  of  some  of  this  class,  and 
help  them  back  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  truth.  Their 
poverty  is  often  pitiful,  and  our  missionaries  need  to  help 
support  them,  instead  of  receiving  support  from  them. 
We  trust  the  day  is  coming  when  our  brethren  in  the  East 
can  understand  conditions  in  Utah. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Sept.  24,  1900. 


APPENDIX  G. 

BILL  TO  PROHIBIT  PROSECUTIONS  FOR 
POLYGAMY. 

On  March  n,  1901,  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
Utah  by  a  vote  of  25  to  ij,  after  a  spirited  debate,  passed 
the  following  bill :  "Every  person  who  has  reason  to 
believe  that  a  crime  or  public  offense  has  been  committed 
may  make  complaint  before  some  magistrate  having 
authority  to  pass  on  same;  provided  that  no  prosecution 
for  adultery  shall  be  commenced,  except  on  complaint  of 
the  husband  or  wife  or  relative  of  the  accused  within 
the  first  degree  of  consanguinity  or  of  the  person  with 
whom  the  unlawful  act  is  alleged  to  have  been  committed, 
or  of  the  father  or  mother  of  said  person,  and  no  prosecu- 
tion for  unlawful  cohabitation  shall  be  commenced  except 
on  complaint  of  the  wife  or  alleged  plural  wife  of  the 
accused,  but  this  provision  shall  not  apply  to  prosecutions 
under  section  4208  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  1898, 
defining  and  punishing  polygamous  marriages."  This  bill 
had  already  passed  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  11  to  7.  It 
is  said  that  the  Mormon  authorities  were  back  of  the 
bill.  It  will  be  remembered  by  my  readers  that  in  order 
to  secure  Statehood  the  Mormons  not  only  incorporated  a 
clause  in  their  constitution  prohibiting  polygamy,  but  they 
put  a  statute  in  their  penal  code  against  it.  As  I  have 
pointed  out,  this  was  intended  for  foreign  consumption, 
not  for  home  consumption.  When,  however,  it  was 
charged  that  there  was  a  large  number  of  cases  of  polyg- 
amy in  Utah,  the  Mormons  denied  it  and  said,  "If  that 
is  so,  there  is  a  law  against  it  here.     The  courts  are  open. 

367 


368  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Prove  it."  No  one  had  cared  to  bring  the  matters  before 
the  courts,  as  it  would  involve  him  in  unpleasant  relations 
with  his  neighbors,  but  Mr.  Charles  Mostyn  Owen  de- 
cided that  he  would  not  take  a  dare  and  had  a  number 
of  the  polygamists  arrested  and  fined.  His  action  created 
intense  indignation.  The  passage  of  this  law  shows  the 
insincerity  of  Mormons  in  putting  the  anti-polygamy 
statute  in  the  penal  code.  Its  evident  purpose  is  to  stop 
prosecutions  for  polygamy  by  Mr.  Owen  and  others.  Of 
course  the  husband  or  wife  or  children  are  not  going  to 
bring  complaint.  There  was  likelihood,  however,  that 
this  law  would  result  in  the  passage  of  an  amendment 
to  the  United  States  Constitution,  giving  Congress  the 
power  to  legislate  against  polygamy.  This  would  again 
give  the  United  States  Government  control  over  the 
question  of  polygamy  in  Utah,  as  was  the  case  when  Utah 
was  a  territory.  It  must  come  to  that  sooner  or  later,  and 
the  sooner  the  better. 

Seeing  this  danger  Gov.  Wells,  himself  a  Mormon, 
vetoed  the  bill  in  the  following  message: 

"To  the  Senate :  I  have  the  honor  to  return  herewith, 
without  approval,  Senate  bill  No.  113,  'An  act  amending 
section  461 1  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Utah,  1898,  in 
relation  to  the  making  of  complaints  and  commencing 
prosecutions  in  criminal  cases.' 

"No  official  act  of  my  life  has  been  approached  by 
me  with  a  sense  of  responsibility  so  profound  as  is  in- 
volved in  the  consideration  of  this  bill.  It  is  a  measure 
of  the  supremest  importance  and  in  its  consequences  for 
good  or  ill  it  easily  surpasses  any  other  proposition  that 
ever  came  before  this  Commonwealth  for  legislative  and 
executive  determination.  It  has  been  argued  in  both 
branches  of  the  assembly  with  splendid  force  and  ability, 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  369 

while  its  provisions  have  doubtless  been  eagerly  discussed 
in  the  remotest  hamlet  of  our  State. 

INJURING  REPUTATION. 

"The  patience,  loyalty  and  conservatism  of  our  citizens 
are  so  widely  recognized  that  only  by  the  passing  of  such 
a  bill  as  this  can  their  reputation  be  injured.  The 
broadminded  and  intelligent  everywhere  accept  the  situa- 
tion here  as  it  exists,  and  are  content  to  let  time  complete 
the  solution  of  the  problem.  Even  the  bigoted  and  the 
meddlesome  have  to  admit  that  with  rare  exceptions  the 
conduct  and  integrity  of  the  people  are  above  reproach. 

"In  my  opinion  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  this 
bill,  if  passed,  would  be  welcomed  and  employed  as  a  most 
effective  weapon  against  the  very  classes  whose  condition 
it  is  intended  to  ameliorate.  Furthermore.  I  have  reason 
to  believe  its  enactment  would  be  the  signal  for  a  general 
demand  upon  the  national  Congress  for  a  constitutional 
amendment  directed  against  social  conditions  here,  a  de- 
mand which,  under  the  present  circumstances,  would  sure- 
ly be  complied  with. 

"In  the  shortest  memory  still  remain  incidents  of  the 
distressing  period  shortly  before  Statehood  during  which 
so  much  sorrow  and  bitterness  stalked  through  our  com- 
munity. Of  still  more  recent  date,  no  longer  than  two 
years  ago,  another  outburst  was  threatened,  and  to  some 

extent  was  manifested. 
1 

CI.OUDS    ROIXED   BY. 

"But  as  a  termination  of  the  first,  came  concession  and 
amnesty  and  evidence  of  good  faith,  and  at  length  State- 
hood, in  which  everybody  rejoiced ;  and  while,  as  a  result 
of  the  second,  the  sun  of  our  prosperity  was  for  a  time 
obscured,  the  clouds  at  length  have  rolled  away,  and 


370  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

Utah,  united,  hopeful  and  vigorous,  is  marching  bravely 
forward  to  the  music  of  the  Union. 

"I  yield  to  no  one  in  affection  for  these,  my  people, 
who,  from  the  highest  motives,  and  because  they  believed 
it  a  divine  command,  entered  into  the  relation  of  plural 
marriage.  Born  and  reared  in  Utah,  myself  a  product 
if  that  marriage  system  (taught  from  infancy  to  regard 
my  lineage  as  approved  of  the  Almighty,  and  proud  to-day 
as  I  have  ever  been,  of  my  heritage),  it  will  be  granted, 
I  trust,  that  every  instinct  of  my  nature  reaches  out  to 
shield  my  friends  from  harm  and  to  protect  them  from 
unjust  attack.  Their  cause  is  my  cause,  and  when  they 
are  hurt  I  am  hurt,  for  I  am  part  of  them. 

"But  in  that  same  heart  which  is  filled  with  sympathy 
for  them  I  find  also  the  solemn  feeling  that  this  bill  holds 
out  only  a  false  hope  of  protection  and  that,  in  offering 
a  phantom  of  relief  to  a  few,  it  in  reality  invites  a  deluge 
of  discord  and  disaster  upon  all. 

"For  these  reasons  and  many  others,  I  am  unable  to 
approve  the  bill  now  before  me.    Very  respectfully, 

"Heber  M.  Wells,  Governor/' 

The  following  facts  are  made  evident  from  this  mes- 
sage: 

i.  The  interest  felt  by  the  Mormons  of  Utah  in  the 
passage  of  the  bill.  Governor  Wells  says  that  "Its  pro- 
visions have  doubtless  been  eagerly  discussed  in  the  re- 
motest hamlet  of  our  State."  He  regarded  it  as  "a  meas- 
ure of  supremest  importance  and  in  its  consequences  for 
good  or  ill  it  easily  surpasses  any  other  proposition  that 
ever  came  before  this  Commonwealth  for  legislative  and 
executive  determination." 

2.  Governor  Wells  admits  the  existence  of  polygamy 
in  the  State. 


THE  MORMON  MONSTER.  371 

3.  Not  only  that,  but  that  he  himself  is  "a  product 
of  that  marriage  system,"  and  that  he  had  been  "taught 
from  infancy  to  regard  my  lineage  as  approved  of  the 
Almighty,  and  proud  today  as  I  have  ever  been  of  my 
heritage/'  which  means  that  he  still  regards  polygamy 
as  "approved  of  the  Almighty"  and  is  "proud"  of  being 
a  product  of  that  system.  This,  mind  you,  is  from  the 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Utah.  But  remember  that  he  is 
a  Mormon  and  in  these  sentiments  he  has  only  expressed 
Mormon  feelings. 

4.  He  makes  it  clear  that  his  only  reason  for  vetoing 
the  bill  was  his  fear  of  the  adoption  by  Congress  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  di- 
rected against  polygamy  and  putting  the  control  of  polyg- 
amy again  in  the  hands  of  the  United  States  Government 
authorities. 

The  Mormons  are  as  afraid  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment as  of  death.  They  have  had  some  experience 
and  have  occasion  to  fear  the  Government.  But  that  is 
about  the  only  thing  in  the  world  they  are  afraid  of. 
Remove  the  fear  of  that  constitutional  amendment  and  a 
bill  of  the  kind  recently  passed  by  the  legislature  of  Utah 
would  again  pass  overwhelmingly  in  both  branches,  be 
signed  by  the  Governor  and  polygamy  would  be  again 
resumed.  In  order  to  prevent  this  much  to  be  dreaded 
event,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  should  by  all 
means  pass  an  anti-polygamy  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion at  its  next  session. 

If  such  an  amendment  is  to  be  passed  at  all — and  it 
certainly  must  be  if  the  practice  of  polygamy  is  ever 
stopped — it  must  be  done  soon.  It  requires  a  two-thirds 
majority  of  the  States  in  the  Union  to  pass  a  constitu- 
tional amendment.     There  are    now    forty-five    States. 


372  THE  MORMON  MONSTER. 

One-third  of  this  number  would  be  fifteen.  The  Mor- 
mons now  dominate  Utah  completely,  and  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  Idaho,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Nevada, 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  making  seven  States  over 
which  they  exercise  controlling  influence  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent.  They  are  reaching  out  after  the  eight  others 
needed,  and  when  they  get  them  they  will  snap  their 
fingers  in  the  face  of  Congress  and  defy  it  to  attempt  the 
passage  of  an  anti-polygamy  law.  This  has  been  their 
history  from  the  beginning,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  their  character  has  undergone  any  radical  change 
in  regard  to  their  political  ambition. 

In  short  they  believe  in  polygamy,  they  practice  polyg- 
amy as  much  as  they  dare,  they  refrain  from  it  only  under 
the  stress  of  law,  and  if  that  were  removed,  they  would 
again  resume  their  polygamous  practices.  The  decision 
of  the  matter  rests  not  with  the  legislature  of  Utah,  but 
with  the  congress  of  the  United  States. 

By  a  vote  of  9  to  9,  the  Senate  of  Utah  refused  to  pass 
the  bill  over  the  veto  of  Governor  Wells.  Speaking  of 
this  incident  the  Nashville  American  of  March  18th  had 
the  following  very  significant  paragraph  : 

"The  Governor  of  Utah  is  wise  in  his  day  and  genera- 
tion. Though  of  Mormon  parentage  and  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  all  the  tenets  of  that  faith  he  vetoed  the  bill 
rendering  prosecution  of  polygamists  well  nigh  impossi- 
ble on  the  ground  that  it  would  prove  disastrous  to  the 
people.  The  fact  that  such  a  law  was  passed  overwhelm- 
ingly in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  shows  how  tricky 
and  knavish  the  Mormons  are,  and  the  day  of  retribution 
for  them  is  only  postponed,  not  averted.  There  will  yet 
come  a  time  when  a  less  discreet  Governor  than  the  pres- 
ent one  will  let  fanaticism  run  away  with  judgment,  and 
then— the  deluge." 


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